Requiem for a Soul
by Crysanth
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki: Missing in Action, presumed dead, hired to kill Harry Potter. Sasuke Uchiha: ANBU Captain, hired to protect Harry Potter. Two friends meet again at Hogwarts, each determined to complete the mission- or die trying.
1. Prologue

**Summary: Naruto Uzumaki; Missing in Action, presumed dead, hired to kill Harry Potter. Sasuke Uchiha; ANBU Vice-captain, hired to protect Harry Potter. Two friends meet again at Hogwarts, each determined to complete the mission-or die trying.  
**

**Longer Summary: _Naruto Uzumaki goes Missing in Action at age twelve, and the whole of Konoha thinks he's dead. When he's rescued by Danzou and Sai of ROOT, he dedicates his life to protecting Konoha from behind the scenes. Sasuke Uchiha, driven by the loss of his friend and rival, joins ANBU and quickly progresses to an elite squad and a position as captain._**

**_When Dumbledore comes to Tsunade with a mission, she accepts- and sends her top ninja, Kakashi and Sasuke, to take care of the job. Voldemort goes to Danzou with a similar request, and he, in turn, sends his best and brightest- Naruto and Sai. _**

**_So with one team made up of two Sharingan prodigies, and another made up of the supposedly dead Kyuubi host and the antisocial artist Sai, there's bound to be a clash eventually._**

**Warnings: This story may feature some profanity and scenes of violence that may be distressing to young children. I recommend that you read no further if you are under the age of 13 or unusually sensitive to such occurrences. You have been warned.  
**

* * *

Sasuke was breathing hard. Sweat ran down his back and down his face. His mouth was dry, and it was hard to breathe. Sakura and Naruto, next to him, looked to be in about the same state. It was hot and dry in Wind Country, as opposed to the reasonably warm and moist weather in Fire Country, and the three of them were having a tough time adjusting to the climate.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was as cool and poised as usual; he ran with the grace of a cat, not seeming the slightest bit tired or uncomfortable. He wasn't sweating or slowing, despite the fact that they had eaten next to nothing all day. It grated on Sasuke's nerves. Their teacher was probably just doing it to annoy them. It seemed like the kind of thing Kakashi would do, that sadist.

It was hours later, when finally even Naruto's unbelievable endurance was wearing low, and Sakura was so tired that she could barely stand, that they stopped to set up camp for the night. The desert was, as far as they could tell, completely void of life, and if they kept going at this rate, they would die of exhaustion before they even caught sight of the criminals they were chasing.

That was their first mistake.

Their second was putting Sakura on first watch. They'd meant it as a kind gesture towards the exhausted girl, giving her first watch so that once she'd finished, she could get some quality sleep. Sasuke, who had third watch, felt a tiny twinge of jealousy. He was going to be woken up in the middle of the night by Kakashi-sensei, and any sleep he got would be restless and light.

Despite his reservations, however, he promptly fell asleep in his bedroll, the sand around him hot and soft. He was full, from the multitudes of desert rats that they had found scurrying around, and so tired that it was only pure force of will that allowed him to take off his ninja sandals and his headband before collapsing on the mat.

It didn't occur to him that Sakura was twice as tired as he was. It didn't occur to him that she didn't have the willpower to stay awake. It didn't even really occur to him that perhaps the desert wasn't as deserted as he had thought. It didn't occur to him that the criminals they were chasing might try to turn the tables on their pursuers, or attack in the dead of night.

And so, it was purely luck and instinct that allowed him to wake up and roll aside, narrowly missing the stab of the scythe.

Narrowly missing death.

The face of the serial killer, Okomi, loomed over him with a sharp-toothed smile in the darkness. He had dark red hair the color of dirt and bloodstains, and his teeth were pointy and bright white. Swirl tattoos lined his face and were visible down his chest. He wore only a vest and a pair of black pants, and many little trinkets wound in his shoulder-length hair. In his right hand he held a six-foot scythe, silver and black. He looked like some kind of demon harbinger of despair.

"A fast one, is 'e?" His voice was hissing and high-pitched. "Well, 'e won't be movin' much longer, no..."

"Kakashi-sensei! Naruto! Sakura! Ambush!" Sasuke voice was slightly hoarse as dodged another slash from the scythe and kicked Sakura aside.

The silver and black blade flashed down and landed just where her head had been a moment ago. She jerked awake, shock filling her face as she noticed the attackers. Sasuke could _see_ as she absorbed the effects of her error. Her eyes went wide and her face paled, horror-filled. It served her right, to show her the effects of her negligence.

There was a yell on his other side, and Naruto was trapped, a kunai to his neck, before popping and dispersing into white smoke. A kage bunshin. Kakashi fought off a third and the fourth, hands flashing in seals so fast that it was hard to see his hands at all. He'd uncovered his sharingan, and their sensei was winning by an exponential margin.

Sasuke fended off the scythe with his kunai again and again, bare heels digging into the cool sand as he was pushed inexorably back, to where Sakura was throwing a barrage of shuriken at the attackers. At least thirty star shuriken were embedded in Okomi's chest and arms, but he didn't seem in the slightest perturbed. Rather, his grin widened and widened, as he slowly but surely advanced.

In slight desperation, Sasuke slid his kunai back into the holster and performed the by now familiar hand seals. _Serpent. Ram. Monkey_. _Boar. Horse. Tiger._

"_Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" _His voice was hoarse from the arid air, but the fireball was brilliant in the darkness. All else paled in comparison to the flames, and it warmed the cold night air immediately. And then it faded away, leaving them all blinking at the sudden darkness.

But Okomi was still there, laughing in that high, hissing voice. He didn't seem the slightest bit harmed by the _Katon._ To Sasuke's shock, the murderer giggled slightly and leaned in, as if to tell a secret. His breath smelled like sake and month-old ramen, or one of Sakura's food pills. "You think you're a fast one, ne? But not fast enough to 'elp 'im now."

Sasuke spun around. Kakashi was destroying both of his attackers with fluid precision, performing jutsu after jutsu flawlessly. Naruto was overwhelming his opponent with brute strength and numbers. Neither of them looked as though they were in any particular danger, or as though they needed any assistance in the fight. So who was it that needed help?

"Who's 'him'?" Sasuke hissed, throwing all of his force into a shuriken and managing to knock Okomi back a few steps.

The murderer merely giggled again, showing all of his razor-sharp teeth in a particularly malicious grin. "Who's 'im?" he said in a poor imitation of Sasuke's voice. "I wonder if your little pink friend 'asn't figured it out yet neither. I'm disappointed. I thought that you lot was smarter than that, but I guess we was wrong."

Sasuke spun to face Sakura, who let out a little gasp as Naruto narrowly dodged a hit. "Do you know what this guy is babbling about, Sakura?" He ducked the scythe and pulled out his kunai again. "And my jutsu aren't working. He should be dead from my _Goukakyuu_, and he's not injured by your shuriken or your paper bombs. Does he have some kind of shield?"

Sakura looked bewildered and frightened, and it was clear she had no answer. "I- I don't- look out!"

Sasuke dove to the ground as the scythe swept through the air again, slicing off a few stray hairs and cutting his ear slightly. He used his kunai to stop another attack, and then another. In desperation he activated his two-tomoe Sharingan, and jumped as the scythe swung again towards his legs.

Something was off.

There was an odd feel in the air, a kind of buzz. Okomi was practically hysterical by now, playing with Sasuke, like a cat teasing a mouse before it swallows its prey whole. Sasuke's own motions were slower, and he wasn't planning ahead like he normally would have, thinking about each move. Rather, he was acting instinctively, just blocking the attacks. Kakashi and Naruto should have beaten their opponents by now, but they were still fighting rather pointlessly in the darkness.

It was as though the ambush wasn't actually meant to kill them. If they had wanted the shinobi dead, they could have hit them with poisoned kunai and paper bombs from fifty feet off. Sakura was asleep. If necessary, they could have taken her hostage for self-protection. It had been the perfect opportunity. Unless...

Unless the ambush itself was just a distraction.

"Sakura!" he yelled, coughing from the sand in his throat, "It's a genjutsu!"

Her face lit up in recognition- at least, he supposed it did, if that wasn't part of the illusion- and she formed a seal and cried "Kai!"

He almost hoped for a moment that she hadn't actually managed to release the jutsu, because her face crumpled in terror at whatever was outside of the illusion. Perhaps it was useless after all.

And then Sakura screamed. "Naruto! Naruto! Sasuke, they have Naruto!"

Damn.

Sasuke dropped his kunai and formed the seal. "Kai!"

The giggling vision of Okomi shivered, flickered, and was gone. Sasuke was left in darkness again, and relative silence.

"Sasuke!" Sakura's cry made him spin around, to look at her, where, eyes wide in terror she pointed at a cluster of shadows. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, the image that was making Sakura scream came clear to him. All at once, he understood why she was screaming. Why she had the look of someone who is so frightened that they can't think what to do.

Kakashi was still fighting against nothing; presumably the criminals had strengthened the genjutsu once he and Sakura had escaped. After all, two new chuunin were hardly the equal of Copy-nin Kakashi. There were six of them, five men and one woman, dressed in clothes in varying states of disrepair and grime.

And in front of them, unconscious, bloody, and bound in chains, was Naruto Uzumaki.

He looked dead.

Okomi spoke up. From their information, he was the leader of the group of smugglers, criminals and murderers known as 'Yoru'. His voice wasn't the high-pitched, raspy hiss from the genjutsu. It was cold, clear, and precise. "Let's take the Jinchuriki now." He glanced at Sasuke and laughed slightly. "Don't worry, little Uchiha. We won't kill him. The Akatsuki don't pay for damaged goods."

"Give Naruto back now!" Sasuke's voice shook with barely concealed rage.

"Foolish little boy. I don't even think your famous sensei could take on the six of us and win. What makes you think you could?" He didn't wait for an answer. "No, no. We can't have you doing something stupid like that."

Sasuke lunged, the sort of pointless thing Naruto would do, but a man with long black hair stepped forward and made some hand seals, and abruptly Sasuke couldn't move his arms and legs. From the look on Sakura's face, she couldn't either.

"Now, we must be going. The Akatsuki pay well, I hear." With a parting smirk, Okomi hefted Naruto up. He motioned to the other five members of 'Yoru', and the six of them faded into the black desert night, leaving nothing but the wind.

Silent tears ran down Sasuke's face, hot and wet, and he panted harshly, choking back sobs. He hadn't realized quite how close he was to his teammate. And now Naruto was gone, another precious person that Itachi had taken away from him. Another death that would be added to the final tally. Naruto.

To lose his closest friend. It was more painful than he had ever imagined it could be, when he was envisioning killing Naruto to gain the Mangekyou Sharingan. It was a pain more powerful than a dagger in his side. Black dots were flickering in and out on the edges of his vision and he realized that he wasn't breathing.

He didn't much care.

Sasuke gave in to the darkness.

* * *

Naruto awoke to pain and the stench of saké and sweat. They'd blindfolded him, and the world was dark to his eyes, but it felt as though it was daytime; it was blazing hot and dry, the usual weather in Wind country in the late afternoon.

It wasn't hard to remember what had happened. There was a genjutsu, and Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei were all stuck in it, and then there was a different genjutsu, and everything went dark. He had thought he heard Sasuke calling his name, but then there was a sharp pain in the back of his head and he fainted.

Now he was bound in chains, head to toe, and every inch of his body was screaming in agony. He was bruised, cut, and sore, as though every bone in his body had been splintered beyond repair. When he was fully conscious, he did a spot check, and decided that he had several bones that were still healing, namely: his collarbone, three fingers, his left leg, and both bones in his left arm. The rest of them had either remained intact or had been recently healed by the Kyuubi's chakra.

He was very thirsty. The dry air was making his throat stick and his tongue sandpapery, and his head was buzzing from dehydration. He didn't know how long it had been since he had last eaten anything but a desert rat or a food pill, and it was difficult to concentrate on finding out where they'd taken him.

He was on a bedroll of some kind, and it didn't feel as though he was moving. He could hear a few voices, but they spoke only occasionally, and were muffled, as though they were intent that no one be able to make out what they were saying. It was hot, but not quite as hot as the desert, where he probably would have died of heat stroke by now.

From the way sounds echoed, he deduced that he was in a cave or an enclosed area of some sort, or possibly underground. After a few hours, someone came by and noticed him, and brought some water. He was too tired to refuse for the sake of being self-reliant, and he drank it all as it was poured in his mouth.

It had an odd taste, like overripe fruit, but it was water, and if anything, his body needed water badly. Eventually the drugs in it got into his bloodstream and he collapsed, sliding into the darkness of sleep.

* * *

Sasuke awoke, face down in the burning sand of the desert. Next to him, Sakura was just beginning to stir. He sat up, wincing at his sore muscles, when the events of the night hit him, and he gagged.

"Naruto!" he looked around and saw Kakashi-sensei sitting cross-legged next to him, single eye wide and full of sorrow. It seemed wrong to have Kakashi look so depressed when he usually smiled so much. "Kakashi-sensei! Where's Naruto?"

Kakashi looked at him. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. By the time I escaped the genjutsu, it was impossible to track him. I tried."

Sasuke's eyes fell to the ground, and his heart sank. He didn't know he'd still held out any hope left for Naruto's life, but now the look on his sensei's face crushed it, in a single blow. No tears came, but he closed his eyes anyway, feeling his throat burn. He had saved Naruto. Naruto had saved him to get even, and then, because Sasuke always had to be better, he had saved Naruto. On and on, the cycle of saving and being saved had continued, until they were closer than even blood brothers could be.

And then, in one fell swoop, the cycle was cut and could never be relinked. Sasuke pressed his lips together tightly as he opened his eyes. Kakashi was looking at him seriously, his sharingan open.

"You know, he always did remind me of Obito." Obito. Sasuke had heard the name before. Uchiha Obito, died as a chuunin in the Third Great Ninja War. He had given Kakashi his sharingan before he died. "Just when we understood each other, he died."

Sasuke closed his eyes. he didn't need to hear this.

But Kakashi kept talking. "I found... Naruto's kunai. He dropped them in the fight, or was disarmed. I think you should have them."

Sasuke opened one eye slowly. "Why?"

"Because you know exactly what his friendship was worth."

Months later, even years later, Sasuke would think back to that and wonder. 'Because you know exactly what his friendship was worth.' Not, 'Because you knew him best,' or 'Because you were his closest friend' or even 'Because he was precious to you,' although all of those were true. 'Exactly what his friendship was worth.' It implied what Sasuke would give up to keep him as a friend.

Mangekyou Sharingan, for example. Sasuke got the distinct feeling that Kakashi knew what Sasuke'd been considering for a while before the mission. Killing Naruto, going to find Orochimaru, and then killing Itachi. And, eventually, dying with all those he had killed, as someone else came along to take their own vengeance.

Obviously, he couldn't do that any longer. Not only was killing Naruto now impossible, but the thought of betraying the village that Naruto had lived for, _died _for. It was unthinkable.

So Sasuke cracked his other eye open and took the kunai. They were smaller than his own pair were, and they were more sturdy. The balance was different, but it fit his natural fighting style well. Naruto had kept them in good condition, and had placed the Uzumaki seal, red swirl on black, at the hilt, where the handle met the blade.

They didn't belong to him. They belonged to Naruto. They didn't belong to him, but Sasuke would keep them safe for the sake of Naruto's memory. Naruto's pride as a shinobi would never let his weapons rust. And so Sasuke would keep them, and use them, kill with them. But only for Naruto's sake. Only for that dobe.

Sasuke slid the kunai in his holster, and tucked his own in his bag. Sakura was sitting up and looking around, as though she was hoping it was just a bad dream and Naruto would be sitting there, eating miso ramen or something equally stupid.

Sasuke only wished.

* * *

Naruto didn't much care anymore. The cycle- wake up for a few hours, listen to meaningless chatter about Akatsuki and the Jinchuriki and his eventual death, be given a little food, some drugged water, sleep again.

Even the nightmares which had plagued him ever since he came here, images of Haku and Zabuza, the life gone from their eyes, and Gaara, asking him why did he keep trying even when he was losing, Sasuke telling him not to give up on his dreams before collapsing in his arms, and death, death everywhere. He would see visions of a battle, and then on the battlefield, he would see Akatsuki burning the pale corpses of Sakura, Sasuke, Gaara, Rock Lee, Hinata, Konohamaru, Iruka, Kakashi, the Sandaime, even one or two villagers whom he had never met but had seen around the village, smiling and chattering happily.

He would scream at the Akatsuki to stop, why had they killed all of his precious people, just to stop and leave them be.

And then the Akatsuki would turn, as one, and he saw the faces of the all the same people who were dead and burning on the battlefield. Akatsuki-Sakura would laugh and smile cruelly, and then Akatsuki-Iruka would look him in the eye and whisper, 'You're a monster, Naruto.'

The worst part was when Akatsuki-Sasuke would say coldly to him, "You're the one that killed us, Naruto. You're a demon. You killed us all."

Then they would all advance on him, kunai raised, even Hinata as she hissed, "Die!"

But even the nightmares had grown numbing. He couldn't feel anymore, he couldn't think. After all, if he was a monster, it served him right. Emotion. He didn't deserve it. Thought was confusing and twisted, and he didn't know what to think. And he didn't care.

So when Okomi came by his room that day and hissed at him, "The Akatsuki are coming. They say you'll fetch a very good price, _bakemono_," all Naruto could feel was vague gratitude that they were ending it now and not later.

When the day arrived that the Akatsuki were to come, there was great excitement among his captors. They spent most of their time covering themselves with as many of their stolen jewels as they could, apparently under the impression that Akatsuki would be intimidated by their ridiculous plunder. Naruto couldn't really bring himself to feel disgust. Actually, he couldn't bring himself to feel anything besides hunger and thirst and the unending agony from some of his poisoned wounds.

He hadn't opened his eyes in days. He was just beginning to wonder whether they still worked anymore, when the unmistakable sound of a battle drifted over to his chamber. Huh. Probably the Akatsuki were here and were killing off the Yoru so that they wouldn't have to pay the exponential sum that Yoru had demanded.

He let his mind drift. Certainly, Akatsuki would pick him up, sooner or later. It would be stupid of them to leave without their prize. And, sure enough, he heard the patter of many footsteps heading down the corridor. A young voice spoke to others authoritatively.

"All right, the jinchuriki is in here somewhere, so let's split up and we'll look. Four groups of seven, and look out for traps!"

That didn't sound like Akatsuki...

* * *

"Naruto..." Tsunade went paler than snow. "Oh, god, no. Not Naruto." She stood, eyes shining with tears. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have given him the necklace, damn it!" With the last few words, she smashed a fist into her desk, effectively snapping it into two.

Sakura was crying again. She'd been crying on and off for the last few days, and it took all of Sasuke's willpower to keep himself from doing the same. Kakashi was depressed, and hadn't been seen reading Icha Icha at all since the mission. They had just returned, and had taken the shortest route to the Hokage tower to avoid unnecessary questions about why their group had mysteriously gotten one person smaller.

Shizune had broken down into tears, and Tsunade was blinking rapidly. "I'll send for Jiraiya..."

Kakashi didn't look up. "Iruka too."

Sasuke paused for a moment, before adding in a slightly husky voice, "Sakura and I'll go tell... well, you know. Everyone else Naruto was friends with. The whole village."

Tsunade sighed. "Naruto... had the gift of making friends with everyone."

"Yeah." Sasuke turned to go, and Sakura followed him, sniffling slightly. This was going to be hard.

**-::-::-::-**

"What is it, Sasuke?" Ino smiled flirtatiously, gesturing at Sakura, "Did billboard-brow break a nail?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Ignore Ino. She's been busy pining for you all the time you were away. We couldn't get any real training done; she kept agonizing over whether Sakura would take the opportunity to steal you from her."

Choji nodded, shoving chips in his mouth. "It was really annoying."

Sasuke looked each of them in the eye. "This is... serious, Shikamaru. There's some bad news." He paused and took a deep breath. "Naruto is MIA. Presumed dead."

There was complete, abrupt silence, until Ino burst into tears. Shikamaru flinched sharply and looked at Sasuke with wide eyes. "Missing in Action? Then there's at least a small chance that he's still alive, isn't there?"

Sasuke looked at the ground and shook his head. "The last we heard, they were taking him to Akatsuki."

Choji was crying full-out, and Shikamaru was blinking rapidly.

The pain in Sasuke's side gave him a sharp jab, and a he fought to keep the tears from trickling down his face.

**-::-::-::-**

"HEY, SAKURA! How's it going?" Kiba was as loud as ever- it brought back painful memories of Naruto's obnoxious personality and his bouncy, effervescent style, but Sasuke pushed it away.

"Kiba! Shino! Where's Hinata?" Sasuke called. Kiba looked startled at being addressed by the normally-silent Uchiha, but he answered all the same.

"Ano, I think she's training. Why do you need her?"

"I'd like to speak to all of you at once."

Kiba looked perplexed, and Shino looked like he might have frowned, but Shino flicked a wrist and some bugs went flying off, presumably to tell Hinata that they needed her. The group, who for the most part was friends only through Naruto, was awkwardly silent until Hinata came flying around the corner, nearly toppling Sakura in her haste.

"I'm sorry! Kiba-kun, Shino-kun. I was training with Neji, and-"

Kiba interrupted her explanation with a cheery, "Good, you're here! Sasuke wanted to talk to us about something."

"Oh! Sasuke-kun! I didn't see you."

Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath before opening them. "Look, Hinata-san, you might want to sit down."

She looked slightly confused, but sat cross-legged on the ground.

Kiba laughed. "What is it? Has Naruto come to profess his love to her?"

"No. I came to tell you all that Naruto-"

"Ah ha! I was right!" Kiba was dancing in a little circle of joy. "Ha! I wonder how red Hinata-chan will get when-"

"-Naruto is dead."

**-::-::-::-**

"Where's Naruto-nii-chan? I wanted to show him my new Sexy Jutsu! _And_ he promised he'd take me to Ichiraku's when he got back from his uber-important mission. He'd better not have forgotten!"

Konohamaru's whiny, bratty, cute naïvete was not making this any easier for Sasuke. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Konohamaru, Naruto isn't going to be-"

"Did he send you here to make excuses? 'Cause I'm only going to accept a really good one."

"Konohamaru! Naruto is dead."

The little kid stared at Sasuke in shock. "Wow. That's a really good excuse."

**-::-::-::-**

"Naruto is MIA. Presumed dead."

Tenten flinched sharply, as though unsure that she had heard him correctly.

Lee burst into tears, and for once, said nothing.

Neji's eyes widened, making them look slightly more abnormal than usual, but all he said was, "How?"

**-::-::-::-**

"What is it, Hokage-sama? I need to finish my lesson plans, so if we could make it quick? I heard Team Seven is back and I promised to take Naruto out for ramen after this mission." Iruka was happy, if rather tired.

Damn, this was going to be hard.

Tsunade cleared her throat awkwardly. "It's about that, Iruka-san. You see... there was an incident, an ambush. Naruto was taken hostage and taken to Akatsuki by the enemy. He is now Missing in Action, and the most likely outcome is that he is now dead."

Iruka stared in disbelief, before turning to Kakashi, who stood by the Hokage's desk, eye downcast. "How could you let this happen? You bastard! How could you let this happen to Naruto!"

"There was a genjutsu..." Kakashi whispered as he said it, hating himself for each word.

Iruka walked up, fisted his right hand, and punched Kakashi in the face. Kakashi could have blocked it, could have but didn't, and instead his head snapped to the side and blood soaked through the black mask.

Iruka punched him again, and again, and then fell to his knees, crying into his hands.

**-::-::-::-**

Sasuke slumped in his bed, in his empty room in his empty house in his empty clan's home. He had said it so many times today, too many times. 'Naruto is dead'. And yet, repeating it again and again, he still couldn't make himself feel it. He couldn't crush that tiny thread of hope that still lingered deep within him, elusive but omnipresent.

He took out the kunai, tracing the Uzumaki red-and-black swirl seal with his fingertip. Lifting the handles to his nose, he could even smell Naruto's scent. He could close his eyes and picture Naruto walking in through the door, asking to use the shower since his landlord cut off the water again, and "Sakura-chan won't like me if I smell!"

Naruto, explaining nervously that he had gotten home from a mission and someone had broken into and vandalized his apartment and he couldn't sleep there because of all the broken glass, so could he please stay for the night? Naruto assuring him that 'I'll make it up to you by telling a really good bedtime story! I promise!'

Or even Naruto, beaten up by some drunken chuunin who wanted vengeance for a wife, a teammate who'd been killed by Kyubi, collapsing on his porch at one in the morning, bleeding badly and in need of urgent medical care. Naruto, recovering in Itachi's old room and declaring that he didn't need to stay in bed because his arm was all healed.

Sasuke put the kunai knives aside and went to sleep.

* * *

Someone was walking towards Naruto. They caught sight of him, and the footsteps quickened. His blindfold was yanked off, and Naruto winced in the sudden light. It was too bright, for someone who hadn't opened his eyes in days. The figure in front of him was young, and from what Naruto could see, tall and fairly skinny. It looked almost like-

"Sasuke?" He paused and broke off in a fit of coughing. "What the hell?"

The boy, who upon closer inspection, was not Sasuke, helped him up. It was a painful affair. Then he spoke, and his voice was a degree higher than Sasuke's.

"Welcome to ROOT, Jinchuriki. I'm sorry. Your appearance surprised me; I didn't expect you to be so girly."

* * *

**There. No, I'm not going to write out the next few years, I'll cover it with a time skip and a series of flashbacks.**

**Review! Please! Pleeeaaase!**

**~Crys**


	2. Hatsu

**Thanks to all eleven reviewers of the prologue!  
**

** And don't blame me for the late update- I did warn you that they would be sporadic at best. Plus my teachers are evil. EVIL, I tell you. I spend more than five hours a night doing homework and volunteer hours, not to mention that my friend keeps trying to get me to join the French Club in the spare time I don't have. My back is mangled from all the textbooks... :(  
**

**Here is the official first chapter, at a total of over 7,500 words, not including author's note. I spent forever on it, so enjoy!**

* * *

**_Chapter One: Hatsu  
_**

_Japanese word: Hatsu (adj) HA-tsu. __Meaning: 'Beginning', 'Departure', and 'New'_

**-::-::-::-**

**Sasuke, Age 15**_**  
**_

_"Sasuke, are you sure that you want to do this? ANBU live a hard life... it was probably becoming ANBU at thirteen that made Itachi go insane the way he did. I don't want that to happen to you." Tsunade regarded the fifteen-year-old slightly ruefully from where she sat behind her desk. _

_"Of course you don't. You don't want another insane murderer on your hands, especially not the last Uchiha. Why would you? But, the thing is, I _can't_ go insane. I'm Naruto's legacy, and I have to protect Konoha like he always wanted to." Sasuke leaned back against the wall. He wasn't used to speaking so much, and he had used up at least a week's supply of vocality._

_"You're so naïve. Join ANBU, and I guarantee you that even if you don't die, your spirit will break in a matter of years. It's true that you are Naruto's legacy, or at least, you can try your best to be. But Jounin is nothing- _nothing_- compared to ANBU. ANBU is disgusting, cruel, and morally compromising. It isn't just another level of advancement, genin to chuunin, chuunin to jounin; there are plenty of brilliant ninja who never joined ANBU. The Yondaime. The Sandaime. Me._

_"You need to consider this objectively, Uchiha. I don't want you to make a choice you'll regret. ANBU do what's necessary to help the village, and it isn't pretty. It's hell. There's a reason that most people call it quits after two or three years, if they aren't killed or broken or driven insane. You won't be able to protect Sakura like you have done so obsessively for the last three years." The Godaime sighed. "I don't think that this is the best way to uphold Naruto's legacy, by forsaking your connections and becoming a tool."_

_Sasuke looked her in the eye and salvaged a little more eloquence. "Naruto died for the village, Tsunade-sama. I live for the village. To me, that's what matters."_

_"Would Naruto have left his friends?"_

_His gaze was steady. "No. He wouldn't have. I carry his legacy, Tsunade-sama, but even if I wished it, I am not Naruto."_

_"You certainly aren't..." Tsunade looked him in the eye. An ANBU mask wouldn't make much of a difference; Sasuke already had one. His mask was made of flesh and bone, but it was just as effective as molded porcelain. An ANBU tattoo was just another mark to add to Orochimaru's curse mark. Sasuke already had a heart of an ANBU, whether she gave him certification or not. "You haven't smiled since he died."_

_But Sasuke wouldn't answer. He had nothing more to say._

_"You have no friends save Sakura and Kakashi-san, and you keep your distance from even them, although you follow Sakura on every mission to make sure that she stays safe. You don't have any friends that could replace Naruto."_

_Sasuke broke his gaze and looked out the window._

_"You don't want to lose that again."_

_The Uchiha said nothing, but the sudden twitch of an eyebrow was enough to convey the truth._

* * *

At the age of sixteen, Uchiha Sasuke was now an ANBU captain. He worked under the sole command of Tsunade. The last of the so-called 'true' Sharingan wielders now that Itachi was in disgrace, ANBU 'Hawk' was widely recognized as one of the top shinobi in all the Five Elemental Nations.

He was one of the top picks for Hokage when the Godaime should choose to retire. He was in the Bingo Books of every shinobi, but for the most part enemy ninja knew to run when they saw him, to run and try not to get caught. To fight him was suicide. To oppose him was risky at best, and instant death at worst.

The only people who knew of his true identity were Sakura, Kakashi, Tsunade, his ANBU team, a few of his year-mates who had figured it out, and Shizune. Anyone else who saw his sharingan and recognized him for it was dead by now. People called him 'The Lightning Master' and 'The Phoenix,' an almost-pun on his mask and his Uchiha _Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu._

His team, Dog (a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed guy, second youngest in the group aside from himself), Serpent (a temperamental kunoichi of twenty-one), and Panda (an older cousin of Neji's), were all at least five years older than him.

At the moment, he was lying stretched out on a bright green rooftop that overlooked the ANBU training field, and looking up at the clouds like a bloody Nara or something. Sasuke was supposed to be watching his team train, as he had done every day for months now, but that got seriously old after a while.

In one hand he twirled a kunai leisurely, and in the other, he palmed two shuriken. He was armed from teeth to toes in every kind of weaponry available, but the real danger came from Sasuke himself. His immense collection of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu could be applied to each and every one of his blades, needles, or weights, and they were almost always deadly to his opponent, unless he specifically held himself back.

Like Naruto's kunai. He had trained specially with these for years. It was odd- he had been used to using mostly ninjutsu, but now the kunai felt more natural in his hands than hand seals did. He was fast enough with them that he could almost copy Hinata Hyuuga's **_Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms_**, and precise enough to kill up to three people with one blow.

He didn't use them as throwing weapons, so much as hand knives. He very rarely actually had them leave his hands, but when he had a good hold on them, he was nearly unbeatable. He could do one-handed hand seals, and focus a Chidori-like charge into them that killed on contact with the skin, like some rapid-activating at his age, he could keep up with all of his ANBU teammates at once.

Down below, in the fenced training area, Panda and Serpent were sparring.

Dog was chucking shuriken at them leisurely, cracking up whenever Panda aimed a punch at Serpent's chest. That ninja needed to get his mind out of the gutter if there was to be any hope for him to become a respected shinobi of Konoha. Panda, for his part, was slightly pink with embarrassment, and Serpent was all but murdering Dog with her death glare from behind the snake mask.

It was an okay match, but it lacked vigor. It wasn't a real training match, it was just a friendly spar. They hadn't had any real missions in months, and they were all somewhat bored with chasing petty criminals through the streets of Konoha. It got so boring, being treated like misbehaving genin and stuck on B ranked missions. Except for the last two months, Sasuke hadn't gone on a B- ranked since he made jounin. The fact that he was now ANBU seemed to not matter at the mission office.

It was likely another plot to keep him from getting more important. Jeez, that was getting old.

When he joined ANBU, most people just assumed that he wanted power. The Uchiha clan always had a bad name these days, and anything that Sasuke did was linked to ambition, like he was a slightly saner mirror image of Itachi. The people who said that couldn't look into his eyes and see the truth of why he did everything he did.

Because he had inherited Naruto's will of fire.

So he had joined ANBU and trained resolutely, using no other weapons but his kunai and his jutsu, creating an all-around weapons technique that even Itachi couldn't have copied with his Sharingan. It was fast, and it was strong, and it was deadly. Sometimes he felt as though Naruto was with him when was fighting, grinning at him widely as he tried to keep up. Like Naruto was still watching his back.

Using the kunai was a way to contact him, or at least a memento of him. If Naruto couldn't be there to help save Konoha, at least Sasuke could save it for him, and use Naruto's kunai to do it.

But training nothing except kunai techniques for months got boring as hell, even for a genius like Sasuke.

Finally, he jumped down gracefully from the roof, landing lightly on the balls of his feet and throwing the two shuriken at Dog, who was once again submerged in a fit of giggles. "All right, all right! We all know that this is a waste of time, so let's do something interesting."

His team, all at least half a foot taller than him, nodded with varying stages of respect.

The oldest of the group, Panda, raised an eyebrow. "Don't you remember what happened the last time you suggested something interesting, Hawk-taichou? None of us could move for months, and Tsunade-sama nearly murdered you for destroying half of the-?"

"Sweet," Dog cut off his teammate. "Let's see if Hawk-taichou can take a hit, Serpent-chan!"

"Get lost, Yuu. I don't believe in team spirit, _or _hospital bills. There's no way we can beat him; remember what happened last time?" Serpent: tall and pessimistic, as always.

Sasuke smiled evilly under his mask. It was only because he was wearing the mask that he did so- if anyone he knew found out that he had smiled, even an _evil_ smile, he'd never hear the end of it. "Don't worry. This is going to be much more interesting than last time." he paused for effect. "You see, I challenge _all_ of you to an all-out, no holds barred, match until either I have you all removed from play, or you manage to remove me from play."

Serpent groaned, and muttered about how she didn't have the money for hospital bills, and Panda looked more than a little apprehensive, but Dog looked positively eager. "All right, let's go!"

Sasuke smiled. "If you're waiting for me to give the signal, go ahead and attack. Let's see if you've improved at all."

* * *

At the age of sixteen, Naruto Uzumaki was finally Danzou's right-hand man. Four years of extremist mental and physical training had left the last of the Uzumaki clan in incredible condition. Any ordinary shinobi would call him unbeatable; the training and the Kyuubi's chakra had destroyed him and then rebuilt him stronger than he had ever been as part of Team Seven. Despite his amiable, smiling personality, he was dangerous.

Those in the organization ROOT knew that he was not to be crossed. Ever.

Although he didn't wear it usually, he was of ANBU level, and his mask was that of the Fox. It was a reminder from Danzou; _You aren't human. You aren't normal, so you have to be better than normal, better than human._

Not to mention that it was a reminder from the village.

The Hidden Villages believed that foxes brought nothing but ill fortune. If anything, Naruto deserved the slap in the face. He really was bad luck. But it served a third purpose as well. The elusive Fox was considered more than unlucky to enemies of Konoha than to allies of it. The mask was like saying 'Come and fight me; just opposing me is to be cursed by bad luck, but fighting me determines your demise.'

The rest of his appearance was markedly different from four years ago as well. He had aged considerably from the happy-go-lucky blond whom Sasuke used to refer to derisively as 'usuratonkachi'.

His hair was longer than it had been four years ago. He had grown it out in front in what was almost, but not quite a mockery of Sasuke's old 'duck-butt' hairstyle, and spikier. It had darkened from yellow to a shining gold when he stopped going out in the sun so much, and it fringed in front of his face where it parted slightly to show the Konoha emblem on his _hitai-ate_.

He wasn't buff. His build was lean and slouching, rather than muscled. His typically rounded pupils had become permanently slitted and elongated from exhaustive training with the Kyuubi's chakra. They were still a dark, sparkling blue, but the pupils had the effect of making him look like a feral cat.

His old treasured orange jumpsuit was gone. Instead, Naruto wore loose tan pants and a black T-shirt with the red Uzumaki swirl. Due to the cold temperature of the underground training facilities, he also wore a warm hooded orange-and black vest that was open at the front. Aside from the ninja sandals and the shuriken holster on his right leg, If Naruto had shown up at Privet Drive at that very moment, he could have passed as a slightly eccentric Muggle teenager.

He wore next to no armor. It had been soon discovered that it would only slow him down in battle, and if he could dodge hits, he figured he didn't need protection anyway.

He had trained in extreme agility and speed, making his natural nimble figure work to his advantage. Being the son of the 'Yellow Flash,' it figured that he would be quick; but when Danzou began training him personally, it became clear just _how_ quick the teen was. He could dodge with inhuman speed, and he had mastered a few impressive translocation jutsu in a surprisingly short time once Sai hit upon the idea of using shadow clones to train the more difficult techniques.

The only admission to weakness was a small metal choker band around his neck. He had learned quickly that the Kyuubi's chakra wasn't delicate enough to counteract the effect of a senbon if it hit the proper pressure points on the throat, so they had been carefully covered.

At the moment, he and his partner, Sai, were training in the literally underground training facility of ROOT. For the most part, it was just hand-to-hand combat and ninjutsu, but occasionally giant ink lions would leap out at him from strategically placed scrolls. Naruto hadn't slept in at least a week now, and was already beginning to use a little of Kyuubi's chakra, but still, it was all rather tame compared to what their normal training involved.

Naruto twirled his kunai from his fingers. He was yawning halfheartedly as he dodged attack after attack by skipping slightly to either side. To his bemused teammates at ROOT, it was infuriating. They envied him his speed even more than the Kyuubi's almost limitless power. To a bystander, it would have looked as though the attacks were going right through him.

The thought made him grin lightly as he ducked a barrage of kunai and landed behind Sai, the artist and teammate who had become an almost-friend over the past four years. Emphasis on 'almost'.

"I'm bored. Can't we do something interesting for once, Sai?"

"Danzou ordered us to keep it tame, Fox-_chan_. We're getting visitors today."

"Visitors? As in, Konoha visitors? Should I be here?"

"Danzou has it figured out. We aren't all idiots. That's just another unique trait of yours."

Naruto took a deep breath and counted to ten. "So, who are these mysterious visitors, Sai-_kun_? And why haven't I heard about them?"

"You'll see. Shall we spar, or don't you have what it takes, Naru-_chan_?" The dark-haired artist winked meaningfully and smiled a plastic grin.

"... Some day, I swear I will kill you, Sai."

* * *

Dumbledore was slightly perplexed when Lady Tsunade, Konoha's Hokage, paused before the large wooden door.

"Look," she said, sounding slightly tired. "You asked for my best and you're paying for my best, so I'm giving you my best. This is a huge sacrifice for a protection mission. No matter what, these are the shinobi I'm sending, and you couldn't find better anywhere in the Five Nations. So in advance, I'd like you to promise not to complain."

Of course, this merely added to Dumbledore's confusion, but he did make a slight affirmative nod in her direction.

"Good. And the second thing is, you are about to enter the ANBU training grounds. ANBU aren't known to be very... conventional in their training. I hope you have extremely good reflexes, or you'll wake up tomorrow with a ten-inch senbon embedded in your skull. We shinobi use a lot of pointy objects, and I don't want you getting your arms cut off before you sign the mission papers."

Dumbledore smiled behind his half-moon glasses. "I assure you, Lady Tsunade, I shall be fine. Shall we proceed?" Despite his confident words, Dumbledore couldn't help but wonder slightly what dangers could make the confident Hokage pause to think. These must be formidable shinobi, indeed, to have her worried about his well-being.

She cast another look at him, but pushed lightly on the oak door, which flew open as though made of cardboard. Dumbledore craned his neck to see, and...

It was chaos. There were flames flickering brightly all around the arena, and huge portions of the fence dangled loosely from fragments of wire. A single figure stood in the epicenter of the realm of fire, looking like a demon of death and darkness. Bolts of flame ricocheted around him, as though there was an invisible, spherical shield that surrounded him.

Indeed, Dumbledore wondered for a moment if this was some impenetrable version of _protego_ the man was using, before he noticed that it the man was blocking the 'spells' with lightning quick reflexes, and somehow deflecting them with the two short hand knives he bore. It had to take incredible strength, speed and stamina, not to mention years of training to perfect such a technique.

The man was fairly short, perhaps five foot ten, give or take a few inches. The shape of the figure said that this was decidedly a man, despite the shoulder-length black hair that framed the face. Well, the mask.

A red and black porcelain mask with a curved beak-like protrusion carefully covered the man's entire face. It made him look like a monstrous phoenix, sitting in the flames of his funeral pyre as he waited to die and be reborn again in a new form. The rest of his clothing was black. Black trousers, black short-sleeved shirt, black gloves, black headband, and black sandals. The only exception to this rule was the standardized green vest that all the Konoha ninja wore.

The masked man was being attack by at least three other ninja. It was hard to tell, as their motions were so fast that he couldn't keep track of their respective animal masks. They were faster than any human on the Outside, Muggle or wizard, and they were nearly sparking with excess power. Dumbledore was entranced.

One of the ninja, a female, by the looks of it, was in the middle of a hand-to-hand combat with the man with the bird mask, limbs flashing out again and again. The female was good, but she was no match for the man in the bird mask. He grabbed one arm, twisted hard and slid his knife to her throat before whispering something and letting go.

"I win again." The man's voice was cold, but it had a note of amusement in it. "Serpent. I've told you already that Shadow Clones don't work on me. Every time, you get desperate and use them, even though you know it won't work. I need you to come up with more creative, versatile strategies that your enemy won't expect."

He turned to another masked figure, a bear of some kind. "Panda, genjutsu is useless if your opponent can break through. You need to cultivate your other skills, too."

He looked to a man with a dog or a wolf mask. "Dog." Dumbledore was sure that the Bird-mask was smiling under that layer of porcelain. "You did admirably this time. Fantastic job."

Then Bird-mask held up his left forearm. Down in a curving line ran a single thin scratch, a tiny drop of blood oozing out at the bottom. "You finally managed to hit me. Perhaps I'm getting out of practice." He paused as his- were they teammates?- protested that no, he was very good, before interrupting them again. "Or perhaps you lot are improving a little."

Tsunade coughed slightly and to Dumbledore's shock, the four shinobi who had been sprawled on the ground quite a bit away, materialized, kneeling, in front of him. Did the shinobi have Apparition, too?

"...what were you thinking?!"

Tsunade's sharp voice broke into his thoughts and he flinched a little before he realized that she was talking to the shinobi. "You'll be paying for damages! You can't just screw the rules and have fun all the time, you brats! Do you have no self-control?!"

The speech about self-control seemed slightly hypocritical coming from a woman who looked as though she was about to decapitate all four ninja in one blow. She didn't look it, but... to have all of these ninja, with all of their incredible power, obeying her every word- she must have been even more powerful than he had thought. Hm.

The Bird-mask bowed low, and if Dumbledore was hearing this correctly, the ninja seemed a little sheepish. "Um. Sorry, Hokage-sama. I was bored and I thought that it might be fun to-"

"Demolish the training field? What are you, genin? For goodness sakes, couldn't you have had your little death matches out in the woods somewhere, where you might not have destroyed the training equipment?" The Hokage was quite intimidating; her face reddened with anger and her voice was so loud it echoed across the city.

"Well, we-," the Bird-masked man struggled with himself for a moment before letting his shoulders sag. "Oh, fine; it didn't occur to me, okay? I was just so tired of watching them spar, I didn't think."

Tsunade looked him in the eye, and her voice was low and dangerously soft to hear. "Do you remember the last time you decided to have fun, Hawk-san? Well?"

'Hawk' matched her glare, but then looked away. "That was an unrelated incident. And don't try to tell me that sitting here and practicing with _freaking kunai_ for _two freaking months_ was going to keep me in practice."

"Your kunai skills _are _better. Although-" her voice faltered slightly here, and the small fall of poise caught Dumbledore attention, "That probably has something to do with the kunai in question. How long have you been training with them?."

Hawk just glared. "Four years tomorrow."

"Tomorrow..."

Dumbledore cleared his throat slightly and Tsunade flinched. She regained her composure quickly, but the headmaster got the feeling that he had eavesdropped on something private.

"Right then. Hawk, I need to speak with you privately. If you could?"

The dark-haired man turned around, nodding slightly to each of his subordinates. "Good work. I'll pay for the damages; you deserve the break. If I can't be here, Panda is vice-captain. Understood?"

There were reluctant nods all around, even from Serpent, who seemed to be sulking slightly. Perhaps it had injured her pride to hear her captain speak so brusquely to her after beating her so easily.

"Good. I'll try to get you guys put on a fun mission sometime. Dismissed." The other three ninja tensed and then disappeared, as though leaping away at a speed undetectable by the human eye. Perhaps that was the secret of their 'Apparition'. It was impressive- enchanting- to see the human body pushed to such impossible limits.

Hawk turned to Tsunade. "I know that you want them to protect Konoha, but they're bored to death. Not to mention that they won't be getting any better if they spend eight _more_ weeks on kunai and hand-to-hand. They need some action to liven them up. I try, but they're so dull to begin with I don't know where to start."

Tsunade snorted. "This coming from you? You can't fool me. I recall Kakashi giving a progress report on his students when you were twelve. He said something about 'charming as a doormat and even less entertaining', and 'I don't think he's smiled once in, what, three weeks?'"

Hawk winced slightly. "I try."

"Try to what, smile? You'd need step-by-step instructions and a therapist for trauma."

"I'm a prodigy. I'd like to think I could pick it up if I put my mind to it. For the most part, smiling is unnecessary in battle. Unless you think that grinning at a missing-nin will make him or her repent and gladly go to their deaths?"

"Worth a try. It might be a hidden weakness."

"Hn. Smiling in battle makes you look insane. Since I have yet to collapse from battlefield insanity, I'd like to refrain from giving the appearance of it, thank you very much."

"Well, at least you're talking these days. The fangirls will have little heart attacks when they see that you aren't actually mute," Tsunade cajoled. "Wouldn't you like that?"

"I don't have any fangirls anymore. It took me forever to get rid of them."

Tsunade stared in shock. "You- you- you didn't notice?"

"Notice what?"

Tsunade took a look at him and cracked up. "You- Oh, god-you-" she said, gasping between giggles, eyes shining with mirth. "You've still _got _a fanclub, Sas-_Hawk_. Only this one is made up mostly of Jounin and ANBU, they don't know your real identity, and they aren't stupid enough to glomp you mercilessly when you get near because they know they'd get a senbon in the eye for their trouble."

"..."

Tsunade's giggles were breaking off. "Sakura gave up on you a while ago, and Ino, and Hinata was never interested in the first place, but aside from that, every eligible-and a few who aren't- female in the ranks has been after the infamous 'Phoenix'."

Hawk looked slightly traumatized, even under the mask.

"Oh, god, even Serpent has her eye on you!"

Hawk's composure collapsed and he choked on air, gagging slightly. "_Ano- _isn't this all a little off-topic, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade abruptly stopped cackling. "Right. I think we should consider moving this conversation into my office." And then, whispering in mock fright, "I don't want to be killed by the fangirls for talking to you for more that two minutes straight."

* * *

The golden-haired teen was a whirlwind of autumn leaves.

He would disappear into a small cloud of them, and reappear somewhere else before the leaves from the first disappearance could fall to the ground. Orange from his vest and red from the swirl on his t-shirt mixing with his blond hair and tan pants only added to the picture of speed and agility. Not to mention that the boy seemed delighted, giddy on his own adrenaline and grinning widely, showing unusually sharp and very white canines.

He was nimble, skipping away from attacks and countering them with reflexes obtained by exhaustive training and much experience. The scars on his face grew darker and his eyes bled from blue into purple, but he was laughing wildly and somewhat maniacally as he would vanish and then launch an attack, before dispersing once more into the flow of leaves.

The other boy, pale, thin-lipped, and dark-haired, was more Voldemort's type. He was conjuring animals from his scrolls somehow, drawing them in incredible speed and then standing back as they flowed out of the scroll. He used the momentary distraction this caused the golden-haired boy to conjure a large bird, and perch on its back to get a better vantage point.

And yet, for some reason, he felt that the golden-haired boy wasn't going all out. He would appear behind the pale boy and laugh, before suddenly darting away and launching another attack. It was as though he could have won several times already, but didn't want to, simply because he was enjoying the thrill of the chase.

He turned to the old man with the bandages. "I'll take those two."

"They'll cost you. And I mean cost a _lot_."

Voldemort glanced at this 'Danzou'. For some reason, he wasn't compelled to argue. Lucius could afford any price this man demanded, and something told him that Danzou would make a very bad enemy indeed.

"Fine."

"Good. I'll have you meet them now, then." Danzou turned and whistled sharply. The battle seemed to freeze in midair, and then both of the participants disappeared, as did the wreckage. There were still deep craters in the walls and floor, and indents were punches had made contact, but the scattered kunai and shuriken vanished.

The two reappeared in front of Danzou, kneeling. Upon closer inspection, the boys were even younger than he had first thought, but both, particularly the golden-haired one with the six scars on his face, released a strange aura of power. The darker teen looked up and smiled oddly at Danzou, and then bowed his head slightly.

"Is this our client, then?" His voice was light but slightly cold, a disturbing combination. "What is our mission, Danzou-sama?"

Danzou frowned. "_He_ has rubbed off on you, it seems. It is impolite to ask questions of your superior, Salamander."

Both bowed their heads a bit more subserviently, and Danzou seemed pleased. "Good. Now, Voldemort, what is your mission?"

The snake-master smiled slowly. "I want you to capture Harry Potter and bring him to me. And after that, I want you to assassinate Dumbledore. If you can do this, I will pay you well." Mercenaries. Hired killers. Dangle cash in front of their noses and they were begging to do your dirty work for you, however despicable his morals were.

But to his surprise, the gold-haired one looked up and glared sharply at Voldemort. "It's Danzou-sama who gets paid, and the money goes to the organization. We do this for the sake of our village's safety, _dattebayo._" The blond fell silent with a sharp jab from the pale boy, who seemed to have some sense of proper respect towards him.

"So you've got a temper? Pity. Let's just hope you can finish the mission successfully." And if he could turn these assassins against their master, he would be almost certainly invincible. With the power radiating from the two, they could destroy anyone who opposed them. He craved that power, and if possible, he would take it for his own and then kill the both of them.

He wanted that power, the power that had this boy laughing as he danced away from attacks that could certainly kill him if they made contact, laughing with joy as he disappeared again and again into leaves and wind, everywhere at once. The immense power that gave him such ecstasy and such an aura. It was as though he was a small child, playing with the world at his whim, being at once surprised and delighted as he toyed with the occupants of his little game.

"Do you think you can do it, little ones?" There was a sudden spike in the aura of the golden-haired boy, sudden killing intent, Voldemort laughed. There wasn't any real mirth in it, just cold pleasure at the strength that he would seize and make his own. The boy opened his mouth to make a retort, and Voldemort saw that his canines elongated. Perhaps not fully human?

Danzou silenced his subordinate with a raised hand. "Voldemort-san, I'd like you to meet your new assassins, Salamander and Captain Fox."

Voldemort let out another small chuckle. "Charmed."

Fox growled at him, a rumble growing in the back of his throat, but Sai smiled brightly. "Likewise."

* * *

"You want me, a ANBU squad leader and a Vice-captain of the ANBU Corps to leave on a ten month protection mission for a student."

"Yes."

"Despite the fact that you kept me and my team in Konoha for nearly three months now, using the excuse that the village needed more security and we, a trained assassination squad, were the _only _candidates."

"Yes."

"Despite the fact that this is just an A mission and a jounin could complete it easily."

"Yes...?"

"Despite the fact that I am high-ranked and therefore, many of my subordinates rely upon my orders to keep the chain of command running smoothly and to keep innocent people from dying needlessly."

"Hawk-"

"You want me to leave now, despite the fact that I am not prepared, nor have I provided adequate instructions to my squad, aside from assigning Panda to be vice-captain in my absence."

"Look, Hawk-"

"You want me to leave _today. _Tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of _that day_, and you want me to leave Sakura to deal with the tears and the memories, and the _terror _alone, without even an adequate goodbye?"

"Hawk!" Tsunade had shouted, clearly expecting to be cut off again. "Look, I'm sorry. But this mission has to be you." She looked at the dark-haired man, and he looked away and said nothing.

"You can't be noticeable. And that means that to the rest of the school, you have to be a student." She seemed to read some sort of objection on his face, despite it being covered with the porcelain hawk mask. "I know that anyone else could have done it with a henge, but a full-body henge for such an extended period would have weakened them exponentially. Not to mention that there's a strong possibility that it would have changed back on some inconvenient twist of fate and we'd have awkward questions..."

"Sakura," Hawk reminded her.

"Okay, jeez! The truth is, Dumbledore-san asked for our best in this mission. That would be you. And, as your Hokage, the person to whom you have sworn loyalty on your life, I order you to take the mission."

"So you can buy your sake. Figures." The black-haired man rolled his head and massaged his neck with one hand. He looked sore. "On two conditions. Firstly, I get to see Sakura before I go, and apologize for your inconsideration."

Tsunade made a face at him.

"And secondly; I need backup. Unless Kakashi-sensei comes with me, I'm not going."

The man's voice held a note of finality.

"Deal," said Tsunade promptly. "I thought you'd ask that."

Dumbledore protested. "But I need just one ninja, Lady Tsunade, I am not certain that the school funds will hold out for two."

She waved a hand. "On the house, Headmaster Dumbledore. I'm not going to have any ninja of mine return from this mission half-dead. Or worse, not return at all."

"Surely you think better of us than that?" He was perplexed. Did the Hokage think that he would mistreat the shinobi, or that they would have to live in harsh conditions for ten months?

Hawk spoke directly to him for the first time, not moving his head an inch. "Dumbledore-san, you requested 24/7 protection duty. I have good stamina, but my limit is two weeks. After that, sleep is a necessity, and my performance will weaken if I go on without rest."

"Ah." Of course. He hadn't even _considered_ how the guards would manage.

Tsunade nodded and turned back to Hawk, with the air of someone performing a very unpleasant job. "Hawk. To pass as a student, you need to remove your mask. And show your real face."

Hawk froze, but nodded, removing the mask, and turned to face Dumbledore.

Dumbledore held back a gasp. The man in front of him wasn't a man, but a boy. He didn't look like he was any older than Harry himself. His face was smooth and pale, with aristocratic features. His eyes were black, and they were filled with a terrifying combination of hate, sorrow, smugness, and blood-lust.

He looked no older than sixteen or seventeen.

His voice, so cold and hateful, still stung as he said, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I'm sixteen, as you no doubt noticed. My mask is that of the Hawk, and my rank is ANBU Squad Leader and Vice-Captain of the Corps." He paused, stopping to check the look on Dumbledore's face. He must have seen an emotion he didn't like, as he continued. "I'm something of a genius, and I can assure you I am perfectly capable."

Well. That was unexpected.

"I accept the mission." With a slightly accusing look in his eye, Uchiha Sasuke slid his mask back up and became Hawk again. When he was at the door, he turned and looked back. "You're welcome, Dumbledore-san."

* * *

Naruto didn't like his new employer. He reminded him of Orochimaru and his threats of taking Sasuke, his snakes, his pale skin, his slitted eyes. Although Orochimaru was far more vain than Voldemort. The self-proclaimed 'Dark Lord' was uglier than Morino Ibiki, and was a bastard to top that. It was a lose-lose situation; work for the bastard, or annoy Danzou.

But then, Danzou and Sai had saved him, taken him in, and he couldn't forsake that.

* * *

**_Flashback_**

_Naruto looked up at the bandaged man, shaking his head wildly. "No! No! I've never used the Kyuubi to hurt anyone! Never!" It was like his fevered dreams from the Yoru's hideout, only this time he was sure he was awake, and panicked._

_Danzou's voice was surprisingly soft. "You didn't, Naruto. You didn't do anything wrong. But the Kyuubi did, and you've been cursed by the Hokage and his advisers to bear the burden of those crimes. Sometimes you have to sacrifice things for the village, even when you haven't done anything wrong. If you don't train with us, the Kyuubi will break loose, and everyone will be in danger."_

_"But why can't I go back and show them I'm not dead? I don't want Iruka or Kaka-sensei or Sakura or even Teme to worry." Naruto cocked his head slightly and looked up at Danzou with big sapphire eyes._

_"You can, if you want. But you have to understand this; they love you, but now that they know that the Kyuubi is inside you, it makes it hard for them to look at you. So while they still care about Naruto, knowing that you're the Kyuubi hurts them. Do you want that?"_

_"You mean- they're happy because they think I'm dead?"_

_"Not at all. They're happy because they think the Kyuubi is dead. However sad they might be that you are missing in action, it will only hurt them if you go back now, Naruto." He paused and gestured to the training arena around him. "Or you could stay and train here and become stronger. If you wait to go back, everyone, even the villagers who used to hate you, will love and respect you as Naruto, and not hate you as the Kyuubi."_

_"Are-are you sure?_

_"I'm certain. You have so much talent, Naruto. Now all we need is to train you and we can harness it. You'll be the strongest ninja in the village, with your power, and you'll be able to protect your precious people." Danzou wasn't smiling, but Naruto felt like he could trust this man._

_"Okay... I guess."_

_Sai smiled. "We'll be your family; ROOT will be your home. We'll take care of you now, Naru-chan."_

_Naruto launched himself at Sai and began beating him into the ground. "I am not Naru-chan, you bastard!"_

* * *

Looking back on it, he knew that most of the tale had been fabricated slightly, but it didn't change that no one, not Sasuke, not Sakura, not Kakashi-sensei, not Iruka, had even asked Tsunade for a mission to go look for him. They were more than happy that the Kyuubi was gone and out of their lives.

Sai had, for all of his obtuseness and oblivious social faux pas, taken him in and looked after him like a brother, more than Sasuke ever had. Sai was his brother, and Danzou was his master, and all the teammates at ROOT were his cousins and aunts and uncles, smiling at him and encouraging him despite what they knew about him.

He couldn't disappoint Danzou, or Sai, or go back on his nindo. And if he couldn't disappoint his family, then that left one other option. Just one, although he wished things were different.

He would serve out his mission with Voldemort, and he would capture Harry Potter and bring him to his death.

* * *

**I had a lot of trouble with this chapter; it was hard trying to write two different situations at alternating intervals while sort-of explaining what happened the last four years. So I'm sorry if it's confusing. I try.**

**Reviews are always, ALWAYS appreciated, although I find it hard to reply to all of them these days. But if you do review, I will smile and wave at you via my computer screen and say, "Thanks for reviewing, so-and-so!" Out loud. Really. Even though my brothers will think that I've finally cracked. And my cat will look at me funny.**

**~Crys  
**


	3. Hana

**It's been awhile, but I'm back! Thanks for all of the reviews, they were very nice and inspiring and stuff. Yay!**

* * *

**_Chapter Two: Hana_**

_**Japanese Word: Hana (noun). HA-na. Meaning: 'flower', 'petal', and 'edge'.**_

**-::-::-::-**_**  
**_

Dumbledore leafed through the papers on the desk with long fingers. Even written in such small Japanese characters, there were pages and pages of information. He selected the sheet with Hawk's picture on it and squinted to read.

_**Name:** Uchiha Sasuke**  
Codename(s): **Hawk (ANBU), also Phoenix, Cobra, Viper on isolated occasions._

_**Rank:** ANBU Squad Captain, ANBU Assassination Division Vice-Captain, ANBU Corps Vice-Captain. Graduated the Genin, Chuunin, and Jounin Exams at ages 12, 13, and 14 respectively._

_**Bloodline Limit: Doujutsu **Sharingan (Mirror-Wheel)_

_**Skills: **Primary Weapons:**  
-**skilled with kunai_  
_-excels at ninjutsu_  
_-talented at genjutsu, taijutsu_  
_-known jutsu include **Chidori** (originator Hatake Kakashi) **Goukakyou **(Uchiha clan special jutsu) and various others_  
_-skilled strategist and technical genius_

_**Appearance: **Hair- Black/ Eyes-Black/ Height-5'10.5''_

_**Known Affiliations:  
**Family: Father, Uchiha Fugaku, Second-in-command of Konoha Police Corps, **deceased**. Mother, Uchiha Mikoto, housewife, **deceased.** Brother, Uchiha Itachi, missing-nin, **presumed active**._  
_Friends: Uzumaki Naruto, genin/chuunin teammate, **MIA presumed dead**. Haruno Sakura, genin/chuunin teammate, **active.** Hatake Kakashi, jounin instructor, **active**._  
_ANBU Teammates: Nara Yuu, ANBU Dog, **active/restricted. **Kayuga Shina, ANBU Serpent, **active/restricted. **Hyuuga Minoru, ANBU Panda, **active/restricted. **Hyuuga Jai, previously ANBU Horse, **critical condition/crippled.** Akimichi Toshirou, ANBU Squirrel,** unstable psychological condition resulting from extensive torture.** Yamanaka Aki, ANBU Cat, **deceased.****  
**_

_**Health and Psychological History: **Stable, if distant temperament. Is known for his experience and calm on the battlefield and is an excellent strategist. The sole survivor of the Uchiha Massacre, rendering him the heir to the Uchiha. He has generally ignored this responsibility, as it has become pointless with the death of the Uchiha clan. _

_He is trained to withstand almost all forms of verbal, physical, mental, or emotional torture as well as interrogation and truth serums. Shows no signs of battlefield insanity or post-traumatic stress. Possible slight schizophrenia; unconfirmed. Is known for working his teams to exhaustion, but seems to invoke great loyalty from them. Slightly overprotective of former teammate Haruno Sakura, but this has not been confirmed as an issue as of yet. Has been tortured several times, but shows no residual damage. All in all, Sasuke is mentally and psychologically sound._

_Exceptions lie in three categories. He has only yet shown instability and/or insanity when speaking of his brother, Itachi, his family, and Uzumaki Naruto, his childhood friend. Symptoms include survivor's guilt, but surprisingly enough, he has never shown any signs of this guilt when referring to previous teammates such as ANBU Horse, Squirrel, or Cat._

Dumbledore blinked, and reread the sentence. "Lady Tsunade; 'He has been tortured several times, but shows no residual damage?'"

Tsunade nodded. "No lasting psychological damage, that is. His body has yet to recover from the last time, but you don't need to worry about it hindering his ability to protect the subject. It's just that it takes extra energy to heal scars, and we don't have medic-nins who can do that for us these days. It's just a few residual burn marks and scars on his stomach and back." She paused for a moment and then smiled wickedly. "Actually, he asked Sakura- his friend- to heal the scars and bruises on his face and ears; he's so vain, he didn't like to have his pretty face ruined."

"But-_torture?_ At such a young age? Scars, bruises on the face? Isn't this slightly primeval?" Dumbledore heard the disgust in his tone and wondered for a moment if he should have been more subtle.

Tsunade just smiled. "With the enemy, it isn't about the age, or even the skill level. It's about who has what they want. That's why we give what they want to people who can withstand torture. Sasuke knew it was coming when he signed the contract, and we aren't going to baby him because he's short or wants to back out halfway."

"Surely-"

"Dumbledore-san, we trust those who have proven themselves. Sasuke has proven himself more than anyone, and I couldn't doubt his motives if I tried. In this world, Sasuke is an adult. And in this world, we trust an adult to know what he's getting into when he joins ANBU. If, in your own world, you shelter and protect those who should be protecting others, that is your concern."

"Lady Tsunade, I'm sure that-"

Her gaze was hard. "Look, Dumbledore_-_san. I don't tell you how to run your school. I don't say, 'this Potter kid is Sasuke's age and you're treating him like a five-year-old, he could be fighting but you're smothering him with guards and telling him to stay put and be good'. So don't you tell me that Sasuke shouldn't be fighting for the people he loves."

Dumbledore folded his hands. "Forgive me. That was presumptuous of me."

"It was."

"Out of curiosity, who is it that Sasuke loves?"

She bared her teeth. It looked more like the growl of a protective mother than a smile or even a smirk. "That's not for me to say, or for you to know. If you really want to find out, you should have a reason over curiosity. When you do, then you can ask Sasuke. If he wants to tell you, that's his affair.

"But until then, you should know, Dumbledore-san; sometimes precious people lie too close to our hearts. In Konoha, precious people and loved ones are rare; we do not speak of such things lightly, and even then only to those who have earned our trust. If you want to ask Sasuke, remember this; there is nothing- _nothing_ more important to a person than one's precious people, and I can't vouch for your life if you decide to press him for answers."

"I see."

"Good. Sayonara, then, until morning."

* * *

Sasuke yawned.

He was a ninja, and ninja didn't get tired. Ninja trained from childhood to defy the limits of the body, to gain power. They were targeted at incredibly young ages, and they had to become strong, fast, and agile to stay alive. They trained from dawn to dusk, ignoring thirst, hunger, exhaustion. It was a training regimen that was said to border on being completely barbaric, but it was the way of life for the ninja.

Or at least, that was what their advertising department claimed.

Sasuke was ANBU, top of the league, but three in the morning was an altogether ungodly time of day. Nocturnal animals were going to sleep, and diurnal creatures were sleeping in. Not one single living thing thought that 3:00 am was a good time to be out and about, and with good reason. No one who was even halfway sane wanted to be up at an hour like this.

No one, that is, except that eccentric transvestite headmaster. The man had asked that he be up and ready by five, and naturally that meant that Sasuke had approximately twelve hours to get ready. If he estimated that about half of those were necessary for sleep, and there would be an hour of travel time, he had four and a half hours to prepare and get to Tsunade's office before meeting with Sakura and Kakashi.

The moon shone dully through the window, into the main room of his house in the Uchiha compound; the library. He was cross-legged on the floor, in not his ANBU uniform, but his old clothes; blue shirt with the Uchiha crest, legwarmers, cuffs, tan shorts. His mask was carefully hidden away under his bed. Since this wasn't an ANBU mission, he didn't need it.

It was comforting to be wearing his old clothes once again, but slightly odd. It was like he became a different person when his ANBU mask was on; stronger, and less like a frightened child. Masks did strange things like that.

You grew to rely on them, like a child might a teddy bear, or a blanket. He knew ANBU veterans who had emotional trouble when they were required to break the mask at end of service. A mask became a part of the wearer, a part that was powerful and dangerous and frightening. Dog would wake up screaming from nightmares, terrified because 'I couldn't take it off, I was wearing it and it wouldn't go away, I couldn't take it off, get it away from me!' Serpent had issues going places without her mask, and even on undercover, she wore a secondary mask like Kakashi.

A frightening addiction.

Sasuke leaned back against a bookshelf, trying not to topple it. The small leather medic-bag he borrowed from Sakura sat in front of him, about half-full. The rest of his stuff, which wasn't much, lay scattered haphazardly around him. He had thus far gathered all of the necessities; food pills, bandages, some scrolls, and his prized kunai, and tucked them in neatly. And yet the bag was still resisting completion.

He didn't want to add anything unnecessary, which would weigh him down, but he hated that the bag was still partially empty. The room was cold, and quiet, and he searched his mind for anything he needed that he had forgotten to bring. Again, he could think of nothing. It was as though the bag existed to spite him.

He glared at the bag. He knew he was being unreasonable. He should just take the damned bag and be done with it, and get some real sleep before the mission. But he was an Uchiha, and Uchihas did not back down. This bag would make itself a more convenient size, or he would force it to do so.

The bag didn't move.

Sasuke glared harder.

The bag remained half-full.

The night (or morning, actually) continued on in that vein for thirty minutes, Sasuke glaring and the bag remaining inanimate and dull. Finally, Sasuke's vicious killer's glare softened and his eyelids fluttered lightly shut. His exhaustion got the better of him, and he slept on.

-::-::-::-

The hospital wasn't very full, which was always good, and it smelled clean and fresh. Sometimes Sasuke didn't know how Sakura could stand the overwhelming stench of blood and gore after a big battle. It was one of the few things that could make him feel truly and honestly sick, which was why he always tried to avoid getting hurt in those battles. It wasn't because of the pain or the hospital bills- it was the hot, heavy smell of death and mangled bodies and blood-soaked bandages.

At the moment, however, the floors were white, not crimson, and pale dawn light streamed in through the open windows. A light breeze carried the scent of autumn flowers and grass. Camellias were blossoming, and yawning genin rookies shoved each other around as they pulled weeds from the flowerbeds for a D mission.

Sasuke walked in, ignoring the starstruck female medic at the door and walking over to Sakura. She was tending a shinobi who had bandages wrapped around his eyes. There had been a skirmish on the border between Wind and Rain, and Leaf shinobi had been requested, as per the treaty. They had returned unharmed for the most part, but one or two were hit by a special poison that created temporary blindness when injected into the bloodstream.

Sakura was wearing her usual; a red shirt with the Haruno ring and her Medic-nin apron. Her hair was tied back, and a small cherry blossom tucked into the ribbon. She was like walking therapy: just being around he made most people calm down and smile. This effect was practiced, rather than arbitrary. Whereas Tsunade's bedside manner could scare away a wild boar, Sakura's was just the opposite. She had taken classes to that very effect, and studied on how to relax her chakra.

When she saw him, she smiled. "No mask, Sasuke-kun?"

"Ano, Sakura..." _Just say it, _he told himself. _Say it_. "I have a mission. Ten months, _minimum_, possible breaks, undercover. It isn't the best opportunity, but I don't exactly have a choice. Tsunade-sama..."

"You're leaving? _Ten months!_" Sakura stood up from the patient she was tending and stared at the unmasked Sasuke. "But- today, it's- you can't leave!"

He sighed, opened his mouth, closed it, sighed again, and then gave up and pulled the pink haired medic-nin into an uncharacteristically warm hug. "Look, Sakura, I'm sorry. I don't have a choice. I had to _beg_ Tsunade just to let me say goodbye." He pulled away quickly, slightly red-faced at the blatant display of affection.

"Don't be stupid. The last Uchiha doesn't _beg." _She looked down, bright red, and bit her lip. "But Kakashi-sensei's going on a mission, too, and I'll be all alone, and it's today, and-" she stopped, and hugged him so tightly he had trouble breathing.

Sasuke gently pried her vice-like grip from around his waist and pushed her away. "Kakashi's on the same mission as me. I think we'll be safe together, and I promise we'll both come back to you. Look, I'm sorry, but I can't refuse this mission. Lay- lay some flowers by the Memorial Stone for me, okay? I'm sure Naruto will understand."

Sakura smiled a teary grin, looking up at his face. "You don't have to pretend to be affectionate, Sasuke. You aren't Naruto, and I won't feel bad if you stop being friendly. I think I've gotten over it by now, or just about."

"Hn. Is it really that obvious?" He hadn't thought he was being so forward, but then, Sakura was too intelligent for her own good. "What gave it away?"

"No. I was always the most observant. Just your general air, and you smile more when you're pretending to be Naruto, and you laugh more. There's this sad look in your eye, like you're remembering."

He sighed. "I am."

**-::-::-::-**

To his shock, Sasuke was, in fact, the last person to reach the Hokage's office. He walked up the side of the building, ignoring the shouts of a prissy new chuunin, and hopped through the window. Kakashi was in deep discussion with Tsunade, and Dumbledore looked on brightly. It was all rather peaceful and quiet.

"God, Uchiha," Tsunade looked mildly pissed. "I have a _door_, you know. You don't have to keep vaulting through the window every time you want to talk to me."

"The new chuunin guard is incompetent. He gets on my nerves an-" Sasuke stopped mid-shrug, staring at Kakashi in disbelief. "Y-you're- you're on time! You're not reading porn!"

Dumbledore twitched slightly. It looked as though he was smiling under that beard of his. "Porn?"

Kakashi sighed, and leaned against the wall. "It's not porn!"

"What is it you call it, then, sensei? Extremely physical romance novelettes? Extremely physical _illustrated_ romance novelettes written by the biggest pervert ever? Even Jiraiya acknowledges that his books are porn." Sasuke leaned against the wall, mimicking Kakashi's style. "So, what's wrong? You look blue."

Kakashi looked at Sasuke with mournful eyes. Er, eye. "I've just been told that I'm going on a mission that's captained by my own student. How do you think I feel? I'm your subordinate. That's got to be the most humiliating fate there is."

Sasuke snorted. "You're worried I'm better than you?"

"Look, I used to have pride, okay?"

"Hn. You sound like a whiny little girl. Well, Sakura's there if you want counseling, but don't expect me to pity you."

"Hmph. Don't get so cocky, short stuff. I remember taking you on not so long ago and not even breaking a sweat."

"Sensei, you haven't beaten me once since I joined ANBU. You need to get over it. It's unhealthy."

"So stiff and grouchy. You are a true heir to the Uchiha, Sasuke-kun." Kakashi grinned under the mask and ruffled Sasuke's already spiky hair in a fatherly manner. Sasuke frowned violently at the demeaning gesture, but as he was still head and shoulders shorter than his sensei, he couldn't do much about it. If it were anyone else, the offender would be pinned to a tree with shuriken in the blink of an eye, but Kakashi had immunity towards those kinds of things.

The copy-nin turned away and pulled a book out of his bag, and Sasuke sighed. Ah, well. He had to feel at least a little bit better if he had gone back to his precious Icha Icha.

Dumbledore looked, for once, serious. "Very well. Now pay close attention, this is important." Neither Kakashi, reading his garishly colored book in the corner, nor Sasuke, inspecting the cracks in the ceiling, paid him the slightest mind.

The old man didn't seem to care; he kept on talking. "I will need you two to stay at a safe house for the two weeks before term starts." Kakashi didn't seem to have heard, and Sasuke looked blatantly unconcerned. They didn't seem to notice him at all.

"Mr. Hatake and Sasuke will be-"

There was a feral growl from 'Sasuke'. "Try _Uchiha-san_."

"-and _Uchiha-san_ will be traveling via Side-Along Apparition to Harry Potter's current home. Once there, you will complete strictest protection over Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and the Weasley family. While you will be undercover at school, they should be informed of your true identities to avoid questions."

"Lovely," Sasuke muttered. "Tell the enemy all they need to know to avoid questions? Isn't that just _slightly_ counterintuitive?"

Kakashi yawned. "They aren't the enemy, Sasuke. They're a bunch of bratty teenagers like you. I'm sure we'll all get along splendidly."

Sasuke ground his teeth. "Would you quit implying that I'm childish?"

"I will when you stop acting like a toddler who missed his nap. You signed the contract, so you don't have a choice in the matter anymore. All that's left is to quit complaining."

"Hn."

Dumbledore looked between the two in mild amusement. "I think we should leave now. Are you ready? I'm taking you along by Apparition, and it can be slightly nauseating on the first try. Yes? Good. Mr. Hatake, Sas- hem, I mean, _Uchiha-san_. If you would take my arm?"

Sasuke took hold of Dumbledore's arm with more force than was perhaps absolutely necessary, and Kakashi laid one hand on with a deceptively firm grip. The old man smiled even brighter than before and turned on his heel.

At which point, the world blurred around him, and the trio went flying into darkness.

**-::-::-::-**

Sasuke had never wanted to murder a quirky old man quite as much as he wanted to now. _Nauseating! _Sasuke was so sick to his stomach he could barely breathe! If it was a trap, it had left him almost helpless against the dizzy feeling.

He forced back the bile that rose in his throat and coughed. "Are we here?"

Dumbledore, looking faintly amused, nodded. "Yes. You're holding up well for a long-distance Apparition, Sasuke."

"Quit calling me Sasuke! Kakashi!"

Kakashi looked a bit green under his cool composure, and Sasuke felt a little better about his self-esteem. "What is it, _taichou?_"

"I want you to do a perimeter check and familiarize yourself with the landscape. With the hills, an ambush would be easy to pull off if the enemy has any brains at all, and if there's even the slightest possibility of a threat, deal with it immediately."

Kakashi didn't argue. He saw the look in Sasuke's eye, and that look meant he wasn't Sasuke. He was Hawk, the captain, and it was always best to obey the captain without fail. "Hai, Hawk-taichou. I take it you will be keeping an eye on the subject in my absence?"

Hawk looked at his mentor with reflective black eyes. Those eyes meant trouble. Kakashi liked to be able to look into a person's eyes and see their emotions, but these eyes showed only nothingness and cold. "Take it however you like, Wolf-san. Dismissed."

All that was left where Kakashi had formerly stood was a slightly trodden-upon leaf. Dumbledore looked to Hawk.

"In we go!"

Sasuke, still slightly queasy from the trip, edged into the house.

He inspected the kitchen. It wasn't very clean, not in the usual sense of the word. Sweaters and books lay strewn about, and half-completed knitting lay atop crowded bookshelves. From what he could see in the golden light of the afternoon, the furniture in the adjacent living room was a hodgepodge of mismatched chairs and lamps with bizarre shades.

It wasn't exactly pretty, not aesthetically pleasing, but it gave the sense that someone _lived_ there, that this place was full to the brim with memories. That the people who lived here were a tightly knit group with undying loyalty and love for one another.

In other words, it was as different from the Uchiha compound as was humanly possible.

Where Sasuke's home was empty, simple, and very clean, this 'Burrow' was warm and messy and filled with emotion. Sasuke's home reflected ninja life at its simplest; cold, clear, concise, and with no emotion. At all. It was as though, where his home (or really, Fugaku's home) had been stiff-starched and military, with just the emotion that was necessary for day to day life, the Burrow had exploded with memories and feelings and emotion from long use

If homes were objects, the Burrow would be a frayed, stained sweater, one that had been worn for years and was slightly patched, but one that they loved nonetheless. The Uchiha compound would be a kunai.

Faded photographs in cracked frames covered bookshelves and small tables, rather than one or two neat hanging scrolls detailing the Uchiha lineage. A baby blue armchair and a clawed red footstool instead of a flat beige cushion. The carpeting was long and lush, like grass, despite the dust bunnies, where the Uchiha compound had only flawless wooden floors.

"Mr. Uchiha?" Dumbledore was looking at him concernedly, and Sasuke realized abruptly that he had walked over to the armchair and was trailing his fingers over it. There had probably been an awful expression on his face. According to Sakura, there usually was when someone mentioned his family. He tugged his hand away.

"Yes, Dumbledore-san?"

Dumbledore gave him that same concerned glance again, and it was like he was at the Academy, all the teachers smiling at him sadly. "You looked upset. Has this something to do with the Weasleys?"

"I was merely thinking about my own family. It isn't of any importance." This man liked to pry into other peoples business, he could tell. A do-gooder who wanted to make sure that everyone was happy and safe. A pity that Sasuke was a shinobi, then. Shinobi didn't get to be happy and safe, ever.

"Anyone in particular?" Dumbledore had begun to pry. The best thing to do would be to shut off this conversation quickly and precisely.

"No."

"Why would the Burrow remind you of your family? Do you have a large family?"

"I did."

"Did? Not anymore?"

"No."

"What happened?"

This old man was getting too excited about his little pry-mission. Sasuke had limits. He turned around, looked Dumbledore in the eye, and said in a voice dripping with contempt, "It is not, and will never be any of your business. Shall we proceed?"

"Ah, yes, of course." Dumbledore didn't look the slightest bit abashed. Rude old man.

**-::-::-::-**

"Molly! I need to speak with you!"

A redheaded woman appeared from behind a corner, holding a large basket of laundry in her arms. "Oh! Good heavens, Dumbledore, you gave me a fright. How did you get past the wards?"

"I set up the wards, Molly. It would be a poor show if I could not untie the knot I tied myself."

"Of course, you devious man." She set down the basket and hurried over. Her eyes lit on Sasuke. "Who is this?"

Sasuke did his best Naruto smile, but it still came out halfhearted. Mrs. Weasley apparently took his antisocial attitude for shyness, however, and smiled welcomingly.

"This is Sasuke Uchiha. He is a student from Japan. Actually, it's because of him that I'm here." He looked up, inspecting a thin flesh-colored string. "Perhaps we should discuss this away from small ears?"

Mrs. Weasley frowned, and tugged hard at the string. A series of crashing sounds came from upstairs, but the string came loose all the same. She tucked it in her apron and smiled at Dumbledore. "Of course."

The moment they were gone around the corner, a closet door opened and three kids tumbled out, one after the other.

"Bloody hell, Hermione, that was my ear!"

"I don't recall you mentioning-"

"Guys!" A third teen pointed at Sasuke, who was watching them untangle themselves while he leaned against the chair.

Sasuke looked away, but his expression was carefully altered at the edges of the eyebrows. He managed to look both sophisticated and slightly disgusted at once, a subtle sort of shading beneath the emotionless outer mask. It was an extremely difficult combination that had taken him years to master, but it worked especially well in situations like these.

Blushing furiously, the teens sprang apart. The black-haired one held out a hand. "Um, hi. I'm Harry."

Sasuke made no move to take the hand, but instead bowed slightly, sarcastically. And said nothing.

Harry pulled back his hand, bright red. Ron made a face. "Y'know, it's considered polite to give your name in return when someone else introduces themselves. Or didn't your mum teach you to be polite?"

Sasuke's temper flared vibrantly, and he decided that, given the chance, he would kill this friend of Potter's. Fortunately for the mission, however, the only change in his appearance was an extra-long blink.

"What the hell are you doing in my house, anyway? I ought to-"

"-I'm Hermione, and the rude one is Ronald," his friend interrupted, smiling brightly. Ron gave her a nasty glare. "It's nice to meet you, uh..."

Sasuke looked at her with calculating eyes. This one was clever; she could see the confrontation coming up from minutes beforehand, and when her eyes locked with his, he could feel instinctively that she wasn't as cheerful and silly as first impressions might consist. Interesting. It was a bit like looking at Shikamaru during a battle; that razor-sharp intellect bright behind the dull outer cloth.

Potter looked at him oddly. "Who are you? I don't think I've seen you at Hogwarts, and you aren't old enough to be in the Orde- In the, um group. You don't look like a relative of Ron's at all."

Sasuke slid the kunai out of his sleeve and twirled it aimlessly. The spiral twirled, twisting in on itself like a Mobius strip or a never-ending cycle. The effect was almost hypnotic, and the three teens stared at it, their startled reprimands dwindling away. Sasuke never tired of watching the small red-and-black seal spin like a children's top, and he watched it with interest.

Just then, Ron remembered his objections to the smug stranger in his home, and stood with a loud, "Oi!"

As if on cue, Dumbledore reappeared around the corner, Mrs. Weasley in tow. She was looking at Sasuke with copious amounts of pity, and he wondered vaguely what sob story Dumbledore had told her.

"We'll be happy to have you stay, dear! It's no trouble, none at all!" She smiled at him warmly.

Sasuke bowed shortly and gave a small smile. If his character analysis was correct, her posture and attitude defined a motherly character, one who would delight in looking after a frightened foreigner. Unlike his own Okaa-san, her face was lined and tan, and her hair was not ebony, but a vibrant orange. Despite this, however, they both had the same eyes. Warm and brown, protective.

Clearly, this woman was kind and welcoming, the type who wanted everyone to be well-fed and happy, but most importantly, safe from harm. And at the moment, she saw Sasuke as a child in need of a home, and in need of a mother. The case being so, she would do her utmost to make him happy in her home.

Well, that was convenient.

Dumbledore spread his arms in a casual gesture. "I'm afraid you must forgive me for providing you with yet another mouth to feed, Molly. I assure you that Sasuke will try his best not to be an imposition upon your generous nature."

"Not at all!" Molly trilled brightly. She sent Sasuke a smile, as if to say, 'Oh, look at the poor dear.'

Harry frowned. "Sasuke? Well, he could have said something. He just stood there while we tried to talk to him."

Dumbledore looked sad, like he was disappointed in these kids. Yeah, right. "I had hoped you would be more understanding, Harry. Sasuke is foreign. This is the first time he has been so far away from home, and certainly it must be a little frightening."

Harry turned red. He felt very stupid all of a sudden.

"You see, Sasuke is a special case. While he is originally native to the village of Konohagakure no Sato in Japan. This year he will be posing as a foreign exchange student at Hogwarts."

Hermione caught the careful wording. "Posing, sir?"

The headmaster smiled widely. "Precisely, Miss Granger. You see, in reality, Sasuke is a highly-trained military professional from Japan. I have hired him to protect the school and its occupants."

Everything happened at once from there; Hermione gasped, Harry jumped, Ron began a hacking fit, and Mrs. Weasley let out a startled 'Oh!'. Only Sasuke remained exactly the same, emotionless and polite.

Ron spoke first. "But- he's our age! He's what, seventeen? Eighteen at the most. How's he going to protect the school?"

Hermione elbowed him sharply, and he winced. "Idiot! It's probably an Age Potion or a Polyjuice. It's so he can pose as a student."

Ron looked sheepish. "Oh. Right. So, how old is he really, Professor Dumbledore? Unless you can't say..."

Dumbledore smiled. "I'm sure Sasuke wouldn't mind me telling you. I was informed that Mr. Uchiha just turned sixteen two weeks from yesterday."

Ron laughed, as though this were a good joke. "Nice. But really how old are you?"

"You don't have very good hearing, do you, Ronald Weasley?" Sasuke observed. "I am sixteen years, two weeks and three days old."

"You're joking," Ron deadpanned.

"Am not. How would you like me to prove it?" He slid out a kunai from his sleeve and twirled it around his index finger. He noted that, while Ron looked at it warily, none of the three looked unduly frightened. Either they were very stupid, or they simply didn't believe he was willing to actually hurt them with it.

"Why would Dumbledore hire a kid to protect the school?"

"Dumbledore can testify to my true age; in any case, I am a fully certified adult in the laws of my country. And Dumbledore-san was not being entirely truthful."

The old man only kept smiling.

"Perhaps he wished to avoid unnecessary conflicts," Sasuke continued sharply, "but I think it would be better to tell you that I am not here to guard the school. I am here to guard you three. Potter in particular." Sasuke closed his eyes but continued to spin the kunai at ever-increasing speeds. "I'm a bit of a prodigy, you see."

He looked up, and his eyes were reflective again. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm not alone here. My subordinate, Kakashi, is currently patrolling the perimeter. All the same, it would be for the best if you resigned yourselves to this. I will carry out my mission whether you like it or not. I am your guard."

"You're a bloody arse, is what you are! I don't care if you're a guard, nobody talks to my friends like that!" Ron was bellowing now, ignoring Hermione's tugs at his sleeve and Harry's meaningful glances.

"Likewise. Stay out of my way and you won't see much of me. Or at least, we can hope." Sasuke opened his eyes, and let them bleed into the Sharingan. "I can watch you from afar, if necessary."

With that, Sasuke formed several seals, slowly, and disappeared from view.

**-::-::-::-**

**(Harry POV)**

"That guy is worse than Malfoy! Some smug, punked-up little git with no respect. I mean, this is Harry Potter! Savior of the Wizarding world! And he just waltzes in here, insults my family, insults Harry, and disappears! And his eyes turn red- did anyone see that?"

Ron was furious, and still pink around the ears from Sasuke's verbal taunts. He sat on the couch in Harry's room, occasionally slamming a fist down on the mahogany for emphasis of what he was saying. Harry nodded.

"Yeah... It's been bugging me. There's someone else with red eyes..."

"You-Know-Who," Ron completed. "You think he's You-Know-Who?"

"Maybe just possessed or something, but I still think that we should watch out for him. He looks kinda insane, too."

Hermione intervened. "Do you really think that Dumbledore would hire a guard for you who could _possibly_ be possessed by the person who's trying to kill you? Isn't that the kind of thing that would get someone fired?"

"Well, yeah, but this bloke is from Japan, isn't he? Dumbledore can't know much about him, can he? And he strikes me as the Death Eater type. I think that You-Know-Who could act well enough..." Ron trailed off suggestively

"Voldemort did a lot of acting in school," Harry began darkly. "Everyone believed him. It's how he got Hagrid expelled; he was the perfect prefect, and the perfect student, but Hagrid was always getting in trouble and hiding monsters. Naturally, they believed Riddle and not Hagrid. I reckon that he could even fool Dumbledore."

"You're going off of something that happened fifty years ago, before Riddle became V-_Voldemort_, and that you read about in a possessed book," Hermione protested. "How much more unreliable can your information be? I think that Dumbledore would inspect him for possession before hiring him to protect you, Harry."

"But the eyes, I've seen those eyes before, Hermione! I saw them in the graveyard when he killed Cedric, in the Department of Mysteries, and then again, just now. It all fits!"

"You're basing this off of his _eye color_, Harry. If you arrested everyone with red eyes, the entirety of the world's albino population would be in jail and facing charges of death. You're trying to fit things where they don't go, just because you don't like him." She leaned back in a long-suffering manner. "This is like when you were trying to convict Malfoy of being the Heir of Slytherin in Second Year, only you have even less proof than before, and, technically, he didn't even insult you."

"He called me an arse!"

"No, he didn't, Ronald. _You_ called _him_ an arse, and he said, 'Likewise'. I just think you should give him a chance, is all, okay? Harry, you don't like him because he's a guard and you think Dumbledore is sheltering you, and Ron, you just don't like him because he made you feel stupid. But we can give him a chance."

Harry frowned. "Fine. But the moment he does something suspicious, I'm reporting him to Dumbledore. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

**-::-::-::-**

Sasuke knew that they were watching him. He didn't get to be ANBU captain for nothing. It was in the way their eyes would trail after him when they knew he wasn't looking, but carefully occupy their gazes on something trivial whenever he turned. They spoke of meaningless things, and oftentimes tried to escape casually to speak of something privately.

So when he sat down at the kitchen table the next morning, and they all began discussing the new tablecloth, it wasn't hard to guess that something was up. He, in turn, sat near the other end of the table, investigating his silverware pointedly. When their conversation trailed off and they began to stare at him again, he looked up at them and _glared_.

They went back to discussing the tablecloth.

Several more, new redheads tumbled down the stairs in sleepy procession. The first, a girl, was carrying a cat in her arms and patting it soothingly. She looked to be maybe fourteen or fifteen, brown eyes, fiery hair; probably the youngest of the family. When she set eyes upon Harry, she went slightly pink, although to most it would have been undetectable. When she set eyes on Sasuke, she flushed scarlet.

Noticing the beginning stages of Fangirl Syndrome, he turned away and went to the silverware again. To his irritation, she chose to sit just in front of him, where he couldn't help but look up at her. The moment he did so, she flushed more still and began babbling in a high pitched voice that got on Sasuke's nerves.

"Uhm, hi, I'm Ginny, what's your name? Are you a friend of Ron's?"

He spoke in a cold, standoffish tone, the one that scared away the more timid fangirls and made the determined ones swoon dramatically. "It's Sasuke Uchiha. And, no, I am not a friend of Ronald."

This one was braver than he had thought at first. She looked slightly alarmed at his answer, but plowed on. "Fred and George, then?"

"No. I'm a foreign exchange student. Dumbledore hired me as a guard for your family, Miss Granger, and Mr. Potter." He looked up at her wide eyed, slightly disbelieving glance at the other three. "And before you say anything, I _am _fully qualified, and in the laws of my people, I _am_ an adult."

She smirked. "Have those three been giving you a hard time? Don't mind them, they're suspicious of everyone and everything these days." She glanced at them again and said, in a conspiratorial whisper, "They want to be part of the war, and they're angry because Dumbledore won't keep them updated on the movement of the Light. Makes them bitter."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were devoutly pretending not to be eavesdropping, turned various shades of pink.

"I wanted to be part of it too," she continued, "But I suppose they're right in saying we'd only be hindrances at this point."

Sasuke paused in his inspection of the silverware. Forks were odd tools indeed. "Why do they want to be in the war? Any reason in particular?"

Ginny considered him. "Well, Ron wanted in because he's worried about the rest of our family, who're all fighting against You-Know-Who, and Hermione wanted in because she thinks it's the right thing to do, defending the Muggleborns and the like from the Dark Side. I think Harry wanted to fight because... well, I suppose you can guess."

He stared at her blankly. "Well, I could, but it might take a while. Let's see, morality, protection of friends, righteous enthusiasm, sense of justice, hero complex... No? Still not it?"

Ginny was giving him an odd look. "Where have you been for the last sixteen years?"

"In a warded, impossible-to-find, Unplottable, hidden shinobi village in Japan. Why?"

"Well, that explains a lot. Anyway..." she gave a succinct glance towards where Ron, Harry, and Hermione still lingered on the last traces of their breakfast, trying to catch snatches of the exchange student's conversation. No doubt they would ambush her after breakfast and grill her on the entire conversation so they could analyze it for suspicious activity. Idiots.

Ginny lowered her voice still more. "Harry wants to be in the war because You-Know-Who killed his parents when he was a baby, and then his godfather and a friend of his, right before his eyes. He wants revenge, I think." She sat back and sighed. "Plus all the Wizarding world thinks he's the one person who can beat You-Know-Who."

Sasuke's lips tightened until they were just barely a line. He eyes flared with irritation. "So he's an avenger. That's _it?_ I know you've been listening to us, Potter, don't pretend you haven't been. I think that if you want to be in a war, you should get a better reason than that."

"Like you'd care enough about anyone to want revenge. You don't understand what it's like!"

Sasuke looked out the window suddenly. "Whatever. I don't have time to argue with you over stupid things." He turned and swung himself over the windowsill as a bleary Fred came downstairs.

"The 'ell?"

**-::-::-::-**

Sasuke perched high in the apple tree. He could have hung on using chakra, but that would scare Dumbledore's precious Potter and his Pals. Heaven knew that the couldn't have that.

Potter, Ron, Ginny, and the twins were zooming around in the air on broomsticks. Yes, broomsticks. Apparently, they flew.

It looked to Sasuke as though it would be both uncomfortable and, inevitably, very boring. Apparently Hermione agreed with him, as she was sitting under the shade of the apple trees in the lush grass, reading a textbook and making notes on a small sheet of paper.

He jumped down and landed silently next too her. Either her perception was equal to a Hyuuga's and she had known he was there the entire time, or she wasn't aware of his presence. He guessed that it was probably the latter- she seemed very much engrossed in 'Wands and Warfare: a Compendium of Tactics Throughout the Middle Ages,' and hadn't even twitched when he jumped.

"Yo," he said casually, raising one hand in a motion reminiscent of Kakashi-sensei.

She flinched sharply and lashed out. He had to admit, her reflexes were pretty good, but her strikes weren't anywhere near precise enough. He hopped backwards slightly and the swings passed him by.

"Jumpy today, are we?"

"Oh, sorry, Sasuke! I, um, didn't see you there. Knee-jerk response, you know." She pushed her hair back out of her eyes. "You're really fast."

"Hn."

They sat in silence for the next few moments, and Sasuke got the feeling that Hermione wanted to ask something. If she worked at the same rate as Sakura, then it would be 3... 2... 1...

"I was wondering... what are those markings on your clothes?"

Sasuke blinked. He had been expecting a question about why he was so nasty the night before, or something personal, like why he had said what he did at breakfast. And yet, it didn't seem like a diversion or an interrogation technique. "What, the fan?"

"Yes, the little red and white one. You wear it on just about everything; your shirt, your sandals, your headband, that locket. I was wondering why." She looked as though she expected to be shot down just for asking.

Sasuke resisted the urge to smirk. "It's my clan symbol, the Uchiha fan. Uchiha is a reference to a type of fan that is used to stoke flames. It is a reference to our specialty fire techniques. Hence the fan symbol." He let a kunai slide out of his sleeve, ignoring Hermione's frightened glance. He knelt and scratched the fan symbol into the soft dirt.

"In my village, your clan is your reputation. The Uchiha clan, for instance," he drew a circle around the fan, "Is known for producing top-level shinobi, heading the village's police force, and are very large and wealthy." He scratched a circle in the earth, and then drew another within, forming a ring. "This is the symbol for the Haruno clan. They are not as large or wealthy, but many are well-known scholars. They have a monopoly on the libraries in the village. This is the clan of a friend of mine."

In succession, he drew the smoke curl of the Hyuuga, the split circle of the Inuzuka, the Akimichi 'shoku' symbol, and, as an afterthought, the Uzumaki whirlpool. "There are many clans, too many to count. Most of them are just groups of wanderers, broken off from the old clan, that gave themselves a name. The clans are always changing. One day, the Kamezuru were in power, and the next, the Aburame took over. If it weren't for certain precautions, the Hyuuga branch families would have certainly tried to overthrow the main family."

Hermione frowned. "It doesn't sound very... organized."

"It wasn't. Until the Sage of Six Paths came along, the warfare between the clans almost destroyed us. It was thanks to him that the clans were joined under the leadership of the Kage and the shinobi villages. Wars between clans were eliminated almost entirely, and wars between villages were much better planned out. You didn't have to go to sleep worrying that you would be dead by morning."

The bushy-haired girl pointed towards the Uchiha fan. "You said your clan was the Uchiha?"

"Yes."

"Then why does your knife have that symbol on it?" she asked curiously, poking a finger at the red-and-black swirl.

Sasuke stiffened and slid his kunai back into his shirtsleeve. "That's the Uzumaki clan symbol, the whirlpool."

"So why do you have it on your knife? It seems like an Uzumaki should have that symbol, right?"

"Hn." He saw her open her mouth and cut her off. "It's really none of your concern."

They sat in silence once again, each awkwardly avoiding the other one's gaze. Hermione seemed to be building up the courage to ask something, and Sasuke waited in slightly bored anticipation, watching Potter and his sidekick fly on flimsy sticks hundreds of feet above the ground. She just began to speak, when something cut her off. It wasn't Sasuke.

It was a scream.

* * *

The memorial stone was shining in the sun. It was late morning; that was always Naruto's favorite time of day, when he would go to Ichiraku's and eat more than he could afford, and arrive just barely in time for training. She had been angry with him then. Now, she just wished she could go back in time, maybe say yes for once when he asked her out.

Sakura approached the stone with a small ring of daisies. She hadn't made anything so childish in years, and so this one was slightly lopsided and droopy. Naruto hadn't liked any particular flower more than the rest, but she always brought him the last daisies of summer. They were yellow and spiky and bright, and they looked like little Narutos engaged in battle.

She had cried when they had come home from the failed mission four years ago. She had cried bitterly, for days. Even weeks later, the slightest thing could make her burst into tears. She didn't like to feel weak, but she couldn't help it as her body would convulse in silent sobs at night.

Sasuke had never cried. She had thought back on it, and realized that he had cringed at the mention of the name, and that his Sharingan would activate seemingly at random, and once she had even seen tears pool at the edges of his eyes. Never once did the tears spill over. Sasuke was too strong, too controlled. Stronger than her.

She knelt before the stone and placed the flowers down, tracing the name of Uzumaki Naruto in the smooth stone.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto," she whispered softly. "I'm sorry that I didn't give you a chance, and I'm sorry that you were treated like a monster. I'm sorry that I didn't take the time to look underneath the prankster and see all of the pain you were in. I'm sorry that you didn't become Hokage. I think you would have made a great one someday, when you grew up a little."

Someone else had been here. From the look of the muddy camellias and the footprints, it was probably Konohamaru and his friends, Moegi and Udon. They had left a little pair of green goggles on the ground near the grave, too. "Sasuke can't be here. He wanted to be, he wanted it really badly, I could tell, but Tsunade-sama assigned him a mission. Kakashi-sensei, too. He said to lay some flowers by your grave, too, so those daisies can be from him."

"I think of you every day, Naruto-kun. It hurts so much to know that you'll never smile again, but it hurts even more to know that it's all my fault. Sasuke-kun tries to blame himself all of the time. I think he feels guilty because he couldn't save you. He hides his pain, and doesn't talk much to anyone, because he feels he has to carry your will of fire. He calls it a legacy, because you would have like that, but in truth, I think your will of fire is too big for him. He's dying quietly from the weight, and I'm worried that he won't be the same by the time he comes home."

"I miss you, Naruto."

* * *

**This chapter... was really long. Excuse me while I go collapse in an exhausted heap in the corner.  
**

**Review and make me happy!**

**~Crys  
**


	4. Osore

***twitches* Sorry? Really, really sorry?**

***hides* Just take the chapter and don't hurt me!**

**(Yes. It is short. Sorry.)  
**

* * *

_**Chapter Three: Osore**_

_**Japanese word: Osore (noun) Oh-SO-ray. Meaning: 'Fear', 'Horror', 'Anxiety', 'Uneasiness'.**_

**-::-::-::-**_**  
**_

Sasuke just stood and looked at Naruto, cool and composed as ever. He was wearing his blue shirt from their genin days, the one with the Uchiha crest in large on the back, and on his arms were those stupid blue-and-white arm warmers. With a pang, Naruto remembered how the Bastard always used to hide away his shuriken underneath them and pull them out at the last second to startle his opponent. He had saved Naruto in just that same way many a time, and it was more than a little humiliating.

But now Sasuke just stood there and looked at him. His mouth was pale and set, and he was streaked with blood. So much blood. His hair was caked in it and it dried on his clothing. The hot, sticky smell of blood was in the air, the kind of smell there was after torture, or in hospitals in wartime. Too much blood.

Naruto knew instinctively that not all of it was Sasuke's own blood.

Some of it was his.

He looked at himself, and noticed for the very first time that he, too was bleeding. His hooded vest was in shreds and his Uzumaki-swirl T-shirt was singed unmistakably by Chidori. His knuckles were torn and bloodied beneath their bandages, and a single large gash on his chest was steadily dripping with each heartbeat.

There was too much blood.

Kyuubi was stirring.

He held the burning chakra back though bile rose in his throat. He knew the symptoms- nausea, lightheadedness, and fever, before the intensely hot pain would set in. At that point, his vision would go hazy and the chakra would leak out. It wouldn't be long- perhaps half an hour, at best,- before his emotional state would trigger further reaction, and he would hit three tails. At that time, he would black out completely and wake up later to witness the carnage.

Was that disappointment in Sasuke's eyes? Or was it fear, because he knew what Naruto hosted within him, and saw it writhe? It was agony, this not knowing, agony- but why? Naruto didn't care about what Sasuke thought. He didn't care what Sasuke did, and he didn't care how Sasuke was feeling. He had centered his life around the principle that Sasuke was an emotionless bastard. He knew that Sasuke hated him, he knew it with every fiber of his being.

He had thought to accept it. Accept it and move on- your best friend hates you for what your father implanted in your soul shortly after birth. He doesn't care about you except to exterminate you.

It had taken Naruto so long just to accept that. That was what he had told Danzou, back then, that he couldn't possibly turn his back on Sasuke. Because Sasuke would never have done that to him. Because they were teammates. Because they were friends. Naruto wouldn't turn his back on his friend unless everything pointed to the contrary, and possibly not even then.

Naruto had told Danzou this.

Danzou gave Naruto a sheet of paper.

It was a report by none other than one Hatake Kakashi. It detailed one Uchiha Sasuke as a possible threat and/or traitor due to definitive intel regarding Sasuke's joining up with Orochimaru, attempted murder of his friend, and questing for the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Killing Naruto.

For eyes.

Naruto's first instinct had been to run out and force the truth out of Sasuke. That was always Naruto's first instinct; none of this stupid cloak-and-dagger stuff, none of this hiding and sneaking around the point, just beating the living crap out of Sasuke until he spilled. That was how Naruto had wanted to go about it. But then, Naruto was 'dead'. 'Dead' people were not permitted to question past teammates regarding possible murder plots. It wasn't the cleverest of moves, to be sure.

But that signature- it was most definitely Kakashi's on the mission report. He had even had it scanned for fingerprints, and the prints of Naruto's sensei smattered the page on all of the correct spots. That was the Hatake seal, and even a little pawprint from Pakkun. Hell, Naruto had even remembered Kakashi's stationary paper- a boring dull beige as opposed to Naruto's bright orange.

He had tried to forget, tried so hard it hurt. But after the denial, the first stage, he couldn't ignore it any longer.

Then came the anger. Anger that Sasuke was willing to sell their friendship for a pair of eyes. Anger that Kakashi hadn't told him any of this. Anger that Orochimaru had tempted power in the first place, and anger that Sasuke had fallen for it. Anger that Itachi had set him up as a target for his younger brother, that again Sasuke had fallen for it.

He'd wished it not to be true, _begged it not to be true_.

Then there was the depression. For several years, he had lost himself in his studies, training himself to the brink of death in a bid to just forget, forget everything. He barely ate; he barely slept. It was during these years, ironically, that he became a truly great ninja. He had mastered the one-handed Rasengan in just under a week. But he never, ever stopped thinking about Sasuke. Not when he slept, not when he studied, or trained, or ate.

He still hadn't reached the final stage of acceptance. He didn't think that he ever would. Acceptance that your best friend had been plotting to kill you was not an easy thing to acquire.

He had settled for resignation, and then for hate. It was so much easier to be hated when you could hate in return, safely beyond the 'grave'. If he hated Sasuke, it would go easier, hold back his tears.

But now, looking at Sasuke eye-to-eye, it wasn't any easier.

Sasuke's eyes morphed into the Sharingan, and then to a design he had heard of only vaguely, and only seen in tenuous descriptions, but one that he knew instinctively nonetheless.

Mangekyou.

Naruto was torn between two unfamiliar emotions. Firstly fear; he hadn't felt fear in a long, long time. Not since facing the half-transformed Gaara at the Chuunin exams, or that first night when he had been captured by Yoru and lay shivering, despite the heat, alone in the cave, breathing harshly, head spinning with drowsiness and dehydration.

The second emotion Naruto felt was betrayal. If- if he was alive, if he was alive and Sasuke had the eyes- what then? Had Sasuke found another best friend in the four years of Naruto's 'death'? Had Sasuke forsaken him so easily and found another to replace him in the path to power? Paranoia flowed through Naruto and he began to breathe, hard.

It was stupid; he had no connection to that bastard, and he had no reason to be jealous of someone who had been killed. It was completely ridiculous. He ought to have been relieved that he was no longer in danger of being killed for power, that there was now one less threat in the battalion that constantly attacked him. But all he could feel was loss.

What it meant was that someone else had become more important to Sasuke than he. It hurt like a thousand kunai, and even the battle-tempered Naruto let out a small cry of pain.

He could not allow it.

He would not allow it.

He would not stand by and allow Sasuke to prefer someone else over him. He and Sasuke were partners, and he was the only one that could truly understand, truly understand and appreciate Sasuke's skills. Sasuke belonged with him, and him alone. Anyone else was not permitted to stand by Naruto's best friend.

Sasuke's skills were nothing short of miraculous, and no one was worthy of him. No one could understand Sasuke's power like Naruto. And that was why Naruto launched himself at Sasuke, weapons drawn. It would be better to have Sasuke out of this world than to have him subdued by the influence of others.

Sasuke pulled out a kunai, disturbingly familiar, and coated with blood. But to Naruto's shock, he didn't throw it or even move into a protective stance. Instead, he looped it around his finger and twirled it. Blood flew from the tip in a pinwheel fashion, spattering the ground and Sasuke's face, but he didn't seem to mind. He just spun it faster.

"Wake up, Naruto," he said, his voice soft and gentle, almost pitying. It wasn't Sasuke's voice, he had to be under a jutsu of some kind. Sasuke's voice was cold and hard and calculating. "Wake up; I've been waiting."

* * *

"Wake UP, Fox-chan!" Sai tugged at his unconscious partner again hopelessly. "Wake up, Danzou-sama is waiting for us!"

Naruto yawned and opened his eyes blearily. "Unh. Sasu- uh, Sai! 'M tired. Sleep now. Danzou. Later."

Sai rolled his eyes and shoved Naruto off the bedroll and onto the cold stone floor. "Wake up! The mission briefing is in half an hour! You're tired cause you were practicing late; if I had known that you were such a pansy, I wouldn't have let you do it. Get- UP!-"

And so the legendary Fox of the ROOT organization, master of the wind translocation jutsu created by his father the Yondaime, prized agent of Danzou, and the host of the nine-tailed demon fox Kyuubi rolled blearily out of bed.

He dressed lightly, so as to preserve his agility; long, tan pants, kunai holster, sandals, T-shirt with the Uzumaki swirl. The morning was chilly and he pulled on his hooded orange vest. It would keep him warm enough, but his arms tingled, unprotected from the cold.

In the caves extending two hundred feet below the Hokage Monument, covered in chakra haze to protect it from the eyes of the Hyuuga's Byakugan or other simply observant shinobi, lies the ROOT Training Ground. The chances of someone outside of ROOT finding it were approximately zero. Even if you were in ROOT, only a tiny percentage actually were allowed in.

Naruto, on the other hand, had lived in this facility for four years, and knew this section of tunnels by heart. Though they extended in several directions, long practice enabled him to run deftly through them in the the pitch black. Blindly, he turned corners on instinct, not faltering once. His feet nimbly avoided ruts, puddles, and rocks, and the cold air, while freezing to most Leaf ninja, was merely refreshing to Naruto as he sprinted down the corridor.

There, on the right; that was where he did his training with the Kyuubi chakra. The walls were reinforced with chakra, but it hadn't been quite strong enough. The torchlight flickered off of the ragged craters, and charred items lay in piles of ash and half-melted steel.

_Naruto looked around him, grinning widely. The light from his chakra reflected off of his long white canines, and his eyes were burning with red light. They were hot red, too, not the cool, dark red of the Sharingan. Sharingans were destined for people who were poised and comfortable, geniuses like Kakashi and Itachi and The Bastard._

_Naruto wasn't poised. He crouched over as another wave of chakra exploded from him, and his eyes burned. It felt as though he could reduce anything and anyone to cinders with a single glare. The pupils formed into thin, catlike slits, and his vision became clearer than ever before. Later, when he was more reflective, he would note that even in the perfect darkness, he could sense all of the tunnels around him, where they led, how thick the walls were. It wasn't sight, per say, but more an understanding, a sixth sense._

_At the moment, all he could think of was the pain._

_He loved it._

_As his fingernails tore into his skin, he laughed. The pain, the tearing of skin, the waves of burning pressure against his nerves. The little humans around him, trying not to show their fear. Their faces were emotionless, but he could smell the sticky, salty scent of terror on them. The slightest wavering of their hands. The way their eyes flicked to the others in the room, and then the exit._

_They were right to be frightened. He would kill them all._

Naruto didn't pause in his running, but his breath caught in his throat and he instinctively turned his face away.

Up there, to the left in that forked path, lay the physical training grounds. Naruto caught a glance as he ran by, but a glance was enough. Those walls lined with kunai, the staves, the katanas, the ropes, the javelins, and the roof, slick with water, for chakra training. But the most memorable, the legendary 'forest' of poles.

_Each one was metal. They were of varying heights, but all from six feet to twelve feet. They were spread out across the room, at least five feet apart from any other. Incredibly thin, perhaps an inch all around, and impossible to see in the pitch black. If you didn't know where they were and tried to run through that room, you would die.  
_

_Danzou walked over and twelve-year-old Naruto knelt. "If you can complete this last technique correctly, I will accept you as a lower-level shinobi into ROOT. Are you ready?_

_Naruto nodded; he had trained night and day for almost four months to achieve the chance to prove himself to Danzou-sama, and now that the chance was finally here, he would do it correctly. He had to._

_But when Danzou told him his task, he paled considerably. That was impossible. It had to be- there was no way. The Poles were designed to be impossible. It was in their natures. He almost called out, but Danzou-sama turned and walked out, sealing the door with chakra on the way._

_"I will return for you a week from now. Do not disappoint me."_

_Naruto gulped and turned back to the invisible death lying before him._

_A week later, Danzou returned, not the slightest bit apprehensive at what he might find. But Naruto had not rested, had worked day and night, never once stopping and giving in to his exhaustion. Such was the principle of ROOT. Now that Naruto had been given a mission, he would complete it, come life or death or any manner of hells in between. And so it was that when Lord Danzou returned to the pitch black cave, Naruto was brimming with delight at his success. It was only pure exhaustion that kept him from dancing for joy._

_He perched on the smallest pole, invisible in the darkness and trembling slightly with fatigue and hunger. The surface area of the pole was pointed in such a manner that barely a single toe could balance on the tip without sending the shinobi toppling and impaling his vital organs; his liver, his intestines, his lungs. His balance was that of a hair's breadth, liable to be tipped one way or another at the slightest motion, often with irreversible consequences.  
_

* * *

"So, is it time to go yet?"

"Are you trying sound like a whiny little girl, or does it just come to you naturally?"

"...bastard..."

"So it comes to you naturally, then. Interesting."

Naruto leaped up and was just about to let loose a good one to the face, when Danzou cleared his throat meaningfully. "Stand _down,_ Captain. You embarrass yourself with your lack of composure."

Naruto stepped back, immediately contrite. "Yes, Danzou-sama."

"Fox! I'm assigning you mission head. If you screw this up again, I _will_ order Salamander to kill you, understand?" Danzou's eyes were black and hard. When he was in a mood like that, it was never good to bug him. Naruto knew from experience and had the scars to prove it.

"Yes, Danzou-sama." He knelt quickly next to Sai.

"Good. Now, to protect the mission infrastructure and Fox's identity, Salamander will be as a living bodyguard."

Naruto cocked his head lightly to one side. "Huh?"

"Well, idiot," said Sai blithely, "ANBU Black Ops are trained to take out the enemy's mission head. The mission head is always targeted. Which means... I'm in charge!"

"-wait, what?-"

"Correct in essentials, to say the least. Salamander, you will _portray_ yourself as captain, and if anyone asks, you will tell them that Fox is your subordinate. True ranks should only be revealed when absolutely necessary. Don't trust anyone. Fox, send Salamander on any field work where he might come into contact with the subject or the opposing ninja."

"Right."

"Tsunade's hired out some of her private ANBU, so be careful. Don't wear your headbands. No one can know that you're from ROOT."

"ANBU, huh? That's bound to be interesting."

Sai coughed. "We understand, Danzou-sama." An elbow to his partner's stomach. "_Don't _we, Fox-chan?"

Naruto let out a barely intelligible grunt.

"Good. Take these seals; they speak a different language in the target's country, but we've had these configured. It should help you speak their language."

"It won't interfere with..._that_ seal?" Sai inquired tentatively. For once he sounded concerned, as opposed to scathing. It was a pleasant change, but one that was decidedly disconcerting.

"We don't think so."

Naruto took the piece of paper somewhat apprehensively and inspected it. It was a simple seal, with a few conversion elements, but nothing too big. Nothing that would awaken Kyuubi. All in all, it was a good seal, with good workmanship. Efficient, like everything in ROOT. He tucked it away in the lining of his hooded vest, where it wouldn't inconvenience him or slow him down.

"How do we get to this 'England'? If they speak a different language than in Japan, it has to be a week's travel at the least."

"They have a method of instantaneous travel, a 'Portkey'. An enchanted object that transports the user to a designated area. In this case, Voldemort's home."

"_Home?_"

Sai nudged Naruto and whispered loudly, "It looks like the ugly man is human after all."

**-::-::-::-**

Voldemort's lair was a lot like Orochimaru's; cold, dank, and with the unmistakable feel of a snake's burrow. It was cold, too, and even with his fleece vest and hood up, Naruto let out a little shiver. The man leading them through the labyrinthine passages was as ugly as sin itself. It was actually surprising that Sai hadn't commented on it, but Naruto didn't dare to hope that his friend had finally learned some tact. The insults were probably coming soon, and he just hadn't had the chance to say anything yet.

They finally came to a halt outside a door, and the small, slightly misshapen man shuddered and ran off. Idiot. Naruto leaned against the slightly curved wall, and Sai did the same, his face as emotionless as ever even under the salamander mask. Naruto was wearing his fox mask, but it never had fit him well, and even now it was uncomfortably cold against his skin. He fiddled with it idly, wishing he could take it off.

Jeez, what kind of a Dark Lord hires high-level assassins and then keeps them waiting for half an hour? If this was some kind of power-play thing, Naruto would just as soon like him if he gave it up and let them in than if he made them stay in the cold corridor even one minute longer. Naruto had never liked the cold- the Fox was a being of fire and heat, just like the Salamander, not to mention that Konoha was considerably warmer than this 'Britain' place Voldemort frequented.

After almost twenty minutes of standing, the door flew open, and a sallow woman in dark robes peered out into the hallway. She gave Sai and Naruto distinct looks of distaste, but said carefully and clearly, "The Dark Lord will see you now."

Sai walked in first; to keep up the pretense that he was in charge, subtleties like that had to be observed, annoying though they were. It was particularly irritating to Naruto, who had trained nearly to the point of death over the last four years to obtain his recognition as captain, but he couldn't interfere with the mission. He settled with a foreboding scowl beneath his mask.

Sai smiled his trademark fake smile. "Ah, Voldemort-sama! A pleasure to see you."

If Voldemort was surprised, he didn't show it. He sat in a green armchair beside a fire, a massive snake coiled around him. It was a classic villain pose, but Naruto got the feeling that he had worked a while to achieve it. It would work very well to instill fear among his subordinates, and it made him look even more evil than he already did.

Maybe it was the way Voldemort seemed to have grown to look like his pet over time, but seeing him hiss softly to the reptile sent chills down Naruto's back. Those slitted eyes, slitted nostrils, smooth reptilian skin gave Naruto the impression that this Dark Lord wasn't so different from a snake himself- and had coiled around them, ready to crush them with brutal force.

"Salamander, Fox... You come to me prepared?"

Sai's smile grew. "Naturally."

It was only because Naruto knew Sai so well that he could tell an insult was barely being held in. Well, that couldn't be good. He stepped in front of Sai, trying desperately to mask the growl in his voice. "We're prepared, Voldemort-sama."

"Good. This is a task in which many of my own Death Eaters have failed several times, and we must complete it as soon as possible." Voldemort's voice was high and hissing, very much unlike the calm, composed demeanor he had displayed at ROOT. Was this MPD or bipolar or something? It seemed like it.

"The capture of Harry Potter should be a simple task. Most wizardry doesn't work on us." Naruto cleared his throat uncomfortably; Voldemort was eying him almost hungrily. _Sorry, Voldemort, I'm straight._

The self-proclaimed Dark Lord seemed to sense his discomfort and smiled. "Yes, of-"

"You're sending these-this _scum _to go capture the Potter boy?" The sallow woman seemed to have reappeared and looked shocked, if a little frightened. Her curly hair was tangled and her face was desperate. "Please, my lord, let me go, I will not let him slip though my fingers again! I will bring him here for you!"

Voldemort eyed her coldly. "You failed me, Bellatrix..."

Sai nudged Naruto slightly, and whispered _very_ loudly, "Naruto, did she just call us 'scum'?"

Naruto caught on. "I think she did, Salamander." They had caught the attention of this 'Bellatrix', and she was glaring at them viciously. Voldemort looked slightly perplexed, listening in as well.

"Then, Fox, I think she means that she does not want to be our friend?"

"I believe that must be the case. A pity."

"A pity indeed." Sai turned to Bellatrix and gave her his most winning smile. "I actually quite like ugly bitches like her."**  
**

* * *

Sasuke jumped up in a split second at the sound of the high-pitched wail. In his haste he upset Hermione's book and sent her sprawling, before he could even register his movements. Without bothering to mutter an apology, he sprinted, face flushed, pulse rushed, and his heart thumping wildly. It wasn't the first time he had heard that scream.

That was the same scream that came from enemy prisoners, emanating eerily out of the lowest, darkest catacombs in the labyrinthine ANBU Torture and Interrogation Headquarters. They same scream of Gaara's victims as he surrounded them with trillions upon trillions of tiny grains of death. The same scream that he had heard from his partners on failed missions, as Mist-nin whispered ice-honeyed words into their ears before dripping boiling water into their eyes.

It was a scream of pure terror.

He had heard it far too many times to easily mistake it for anything else.

They were perhaps a quarter mile from the house, but even so, the scream was clearly audible as it echoed among the surrounding hills. Shit. His first instinct was to go and examine the threat, and if necessary, eliminate it or hold it for questioning/ torture. But Potter was his primary charge, and if this was I diversion, Potter would be left completely unprotected.

Mid-leap, he jammed his hands together into the cross seal for kage bunshin, and increased his speed. The sound was emanating from the third story, the window on the left. He scrambled up the side of the house and vaulted lightly through the window.

Mrs. Weasley was pressed against the wall, wand out in terror, pointing at-

Sasuke stopped short.

* * *

Kakashi was trying to explain the situation to the panicked lady, but it wasn't working. She had let out a piercing wail the moment he materialized, and even without his augmented hearing, he would have flinched. As it was, he was now battling off a full-on migraine as she brandished a 'wand' at him in what was clearly shock and fear.

Sasuke was going to kill him when he found out.

Damn.

So when his young protégé vaulted through the window and landed in a crouch on the garishly hued carpet, kunai glinting in the morning light, Kakashi leaned back. Hawk was known to explode in situations like these, and the recipients didn't always survive unscathed.

Sasuke's eyes, to Kakashi's relief, were merely dark and cold. They lacked the reflective quality that made him 'Hawk' of the ANBU. An irritated student he could deal with. An irritated ANBU captain, on the other hand...

"Oh, uh, what's up, Sasuke-kun?" He made a big show of rubbing the back of his head in faux embarrassment. "The borders are secure. If you were wondering."

Sasuke's fury did not seem to lessen at all. "Sensei. You _idiot_!"

"Hey, hey. Calm down. Yelling like that is bad for your complexion. Focus on the bright side; I'm not an enemy shinobi here to kill your charge and his friends."

The woman lowered her wand uncertainly. "You aren't?"

Sasuke waved a hand at her. "He isn't. Carry on. And you, sensei; explain."

"Jeez, there's no need to be so stiff, Sasuke-kun. I have Pakkun on border patrol. I was just hungry was all." He looked mournfully to the woman. "I haven't eaten in two days now."

The woman clapped a hand to her mouth. "And you're the other guard? Oh, you poor dear! We've got some leftovers from breakfast, I'll run down and fix you some." Muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'Two days? No, no. That just won't do at all,' she trotted out of the room and down a spindly staircase.

Sasuke scowled violently. "Liar. You can go weeks without eating, and you've got a full supply of food pills from Sakura."

"Well, yes..."

"I ordered you to meet me in three days to switch shift. You're seventy-two hours too early. Isn't that just _a bit_ of a miscalculation? I left the charge practically unprotected to go investigate the threat, and it turns out I risked the success of the mission because _you_ decided you wanted ham and eggs for breakfast today?"

Kakashi's eye widened innocently. "The charge is all alone? Dear me; hadn't you better go check up on him instead of lecturing me?"

Sasuke growled. "Believe me; you are going to get the full brunt of my lecture the next time I see head or tail of you today," he said darkly, perching on the windowsill. Just before he leaped, he turned back, and his eyes were deadly reflective.

Preadator's eyes.

Hawk's eyes.

"A warning, Dog. I will not permit insubordination. Not even from you. Understand?"

Kakashi nodded. "Understood, Captain."

And it was true. He understood all too well. Because that wasn't Sasuke. That was Hawk. Hawk, who lived solely for the dead, with cold impassivity for the living. When Hawk surfaced, Sasuke couldn't breathe. He was lost in a sea of memories, with no hope of finding land. The two of them couldn't coexist for much longer and stay sane.

Sasuke couldn't keep living in the past; it would suffocate him. Before much longer, Hawk would take over. Living for the dead. Living out, over and over, the days of the Uchiha Massacre at the hands of his brother, the day that he couldn't save Uzumaki Naruto, his failures and his losses. It was a cruel, impossible way to live.

Surrounding his heart with ice, Hawk of the ANBU could not feel anything but pain. He steeled himself against the living, never to feel loss again. Whenever Sasuke spoke, there was at least some emotion, be it hate or rage or even mild contentment, hidden deep withing his soul. He was fighting for the living, the present, be it protecting Sakura or Konohamaru or his ANBU subordinates. Fighting for the village.

But it was said that in battle, the Phoenix of Leaf Village became like a wolf, a hawk, a predator of the night. It was impossible to guess his next move, and he always, always fought to kill. He took such risks that might be called suicidal. Almost like he wanted to die. His teammates claimed that he didn't seem the same, that he didn't respond or react to their voices. The doctors didn't dare call it battlefield insanity, because Sasuke was a level headed teen with no history.

But it has been said many times over that a being of the present will die, when left in the past.

* * *

**Ummm...**

**Don't kill me?**

**Much thanks and apologies to all of my gracious reviewers and readers. Also holiday salutations for the (belated) Halloween and (early) Thanksgiving festivities. And the (current) HP 7 part 1 craze, which ought to be a holiday in itself. There were certainly enough sleep-deprived teens at school the morning after.**

**To the doubtful; I really do have a plot. To the hopeful; yes, Naruto and Sasuke will get together (not _that _way, you pervs!) and yes, it will be a confrontation to remember. For the present, however, they both remain blissfully ignorant. *Cackles madly* To the worried; I don't plan on abandoning the story, ever. It's just going to be really, really slow coming.**

**Ciao for now!  
**

**~Crys**


	5. Warai

**I could either add a couple thousand words and get it to y'all in a month, or leave it at 6k and get it to you now. I chose the second one, so it is a little shorter than I had hoped.**

**Disclaimer: Yes. It's finally here. You may stop bothering me. I doubt I will ever use this space for a disclaimer again, however.  
**

* * *

**_Chapter Four: Warai_**

**_Warai-(noun) Wa-ra-i. An interesting Japanese word meaning 'smile' and 'laughter' as well as 'sneer'._**

**-::-::-::-**

_A man suffers death himself  
__as often as he loses someone dear to him._

**-::-::-::-****_  
_**

Uchiha Sasuke was glowering, as Uchiha were wont to do. Considering the circumstances he was in, it was not altogether undeserved contempt. His charges were irritating him further than was necessary, and it was now beginning to set his teeth on edge. The whole picture even, the six laughing Weasley children, the two proud parents, the fiancee of the eldest son, Hermione and Potter, the family friends. All eating and joking and teasing and smiling and _alive_.

He knew, of course, that he was being ridiculous. Even if his own family were alive, it was extremely unlikely that they would be enjoying any meal so decadent as this, let alone smiling and laughing. They would sit quietly on their tatami mats, chopsticks in hand. Fugaku would have talked about work in his quiet, sedate manner, and perhaps have inquired after Itachi's studies. Okaa-san would perhaps have smiled a little when Sasuke talked about his day at the academy, or scolded him for spilling his rice. Itachi- no. It was better not to think about him.

But all the same, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy at the perfect picture.

And a twinge of pain as the image of his parents' bloodied bodies flashed through his head.

And there was another thing; ingrained into this perfect family picture was his sensei. The jounin rubbed the back of his head and laughed sheepishly when the two redheaded teens asked embarrassing questions, ate voraciously, leaned down to pat Hermione on the head as he might have done to Sakura, spoke earnestly with Ron and Harry.

They had only met his mysterious subordinate about five minutes ago.

The trio- his primary charges- had tumbled in the door, along with Ginny, and the twins. Before long, two more redheads entered, claiming to be the first and second Weasley children, Bill and Charlie, and Bill's soon-to-be wife, Fleur. (Fleur reminded him a lot of Ino, only with larger pupils. It was extremely disconcerting.)

At this point, Harry seemed to notice that the other person in the kitchen with Mrs. Weasley was not someone he knew. He- flanked with his partners-in-crime, Ron and Hermione, entered the kitchen, clearly about to ask a series of potentially dangerous questions. Sasuke decided to head off the curiosity if possible.

He sauntered in. "Sensei, these are the primary charges, Potter, the youngest Weasley boy, and Granger-chan. Potter, Weasley, Hermione, this is my sensei and my subordinate, Kakashi Hatake. I'm sure we'll all be great pals."

Kakashi-sensei smiled brightly at them all and waved. "Yo. Nice to meet you."

Harry held out a hand tentatively, and Kakashi shook it lightly. Phht. Always the social butterfly. "I do hope that Sasuke-kun hasn't frightened you. He doesn't mean it, I'm sure, it's just that all Uchiha are arrogant, stiff, and stuck-up by nature."

Sasuke winced.

"He's emotionally stunted, see," continued his sadistic sensei brightly. "It's because he didn't socialize enough when he was little, and so now he's incapable of polite conversation. He's traumatized an awful lot of people-" -actually, that part was probably true- "-and ruined just about everyone's good opinion of him, all because he didn't go to preschool."

Kakashi reached out to pat Sasuke on the head, but the ANBU captain had had enough. Too fast to see, he flicked out a kunai and sliced toward Kakashi's hand, but his sensei merely laughed and reversed his hand so the blade caught on the metal plate on his gloves instead of his hand. Sasuke flicked the other kunai out from his sleeve and aimed for the stomach, but his sensei moved ever-so-slightly to the side and the knife only caught on the edge of his vest.

Sasuke looked up to see Harry looking vaguely impressed, Ron looking confused, and Hermione looking startled. He pulled his kunai from where it was embedded in the wall and dropped his other hand. "Sorry about the wallpaper." Hermione nodded mutely, and repaired the damaged area with a flick of her wand.

Sensei examined his apparel. "Yo, Sasuke-kun! You tore my vest!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. What was it with his teacher today? "Sensei... are you feeling okay? You haven't tried to pat my head since I made chuunin. And now... Why all the... the..."

"-it's light-heartedness, Sasuke-kun. Maybe one of these days you'll actually be happy for once."

Sasuke looked away. "Whatever. I just came to make introductions. Granger-san, Potter-san, Weasley-san; Kakashi-sempai. Fantastic." He turned on his heel deftly and left the room.

Dinner was served in about fifteen minutes, upon which time Kakashi-sensei exited the kitchen with his three charges. And not only that, but he was smiling. As were the charges. And they were talking freely. Chatting, one might call it.

Sasuke tried to insist to himself that he was not, was not, was not jealous. But it somehow seemed like the world was out to get him tonight. Tantalizing him with the image of friends and family, coexisting happily, alive. It was probably something they took for granted. He couldn't even blame them for that. It wasn't their fault that his family was dead, while this one was (with luck) to see the morning come.

Sasuke couldn't help but remember, though, that there was a world in which his brother had killed his entire family, left him alive but urged him to kill his best friend. Where his brother- who was targeted by his sensei- had targeted his best friend. Where sometimes, people died. Sometimes you were helpless and you couldn't stop the killers. And the few who did survive weren't lucky.

Just now, however, it seemed like he was watching a perfect world.

There was no way he could join in, fake a smile like he knew Kakashi was doing and pretend to enjoy it. He was too far away- separated by an invisible barrier. It hurt like a blow from a dull kunai, striking his heart over and over again.

He picked at his food with the fork. It had taken him a while, but he had eventually mastered this tool just like any other. He had just had to figure out the function- unlike chopsticks, which functioned with a pincer movement, a fork was a single item. Made of metal, which was inflexible, it was impossible to pinch small morsels of food.

So one's first assumption upon seeing the prongs was that it was a kind of stabbing tool. This technique worked fine for pieces of meat or bread, large things. But the fork had a second, hidden function. When faced with a dilemma like rice, for example, the prongs were hardly practical for stabbing. Whereupon Sasuke discovered this next function.

He had been poking away at his rice for some minutes when he noted that the fork had a slightly curved shape. If it was intended only for the use of stabbing, it would have been fashioned completely flat. Instead, it had the shovel-like quality of a rake, or a pitchfork. Hence, the second function was the shoveling technique, where the user scooped the rice in a heap upon the concave side of the fork and placed it entirely into one's mouth, removing, and then swallowing.

The conversation at the table had finally drifted away from Kakashi ("How'd you lose your eye?" "Uh, that's classified." "What's up with Sasuke being such an arse?" "Ronald Bilius Weasley! We do _not _use that sort of language at the table." "That's classified, too.") there was a slightly awkward silence.

"There have been another couple of dementor attacks," a rangy, wolf-like man announced, as Mrs. Weasley passed him a large slice of cake. "And they've found Igor Karkaroff's body in a shack up north. The Dark Mark had been set over it… well, frankly, I'm surprised he stayed alive for even a year after deserting the Death Eaters; Sirius's brother, Regulus, only managed a few days as far as I can remember."

"Yes, well," said Mrs. Weasley, playing the protective mother. "perhaps we should talk about something diff…"

"Did you hear about Florean Fortescue, Remus?" asked Bill, who was being plied with wine by his ever Ino-reminiscent fiancee.

"The man who ran…"

"Is the ice-cream place in Diagon Alley?" Potter interrupted. "He used to give me free ice creams. What's happened to him?"

"Dragged off, by the look of his place."

"Why?" asked Ron, while Mrs. Weasley pointedly glared at Bill.

"Who knows? He must've upset them somehow. He was a good man, Florean."

"Talking of Diagon Alley," said Mr. Weasley, "looks like Ollivander's gone too."

"The wandmaker?" said Ginny, looking startled.

"That's the one. Shop's empty. No sign of a struggle. No one knows whether he left voluntarily or was kidnapped."

"But what'll people do for wands?"

"Make do with foreign makers, I suppose."

It was irritating. Sasuke barely had the faintest idea of what all this talk was about. Ollivander? Sirius, Regulus? Death Eaters? Dark Mark? Dementor? He had read the scrolls Dumbledore provided, but it was still all rather vague and confusing. The terminology seemed like slang, or some kind of informal inside joke. Eating_ death_?

Whoever came up with that term had to be more morbid than Kabuto.

The talk had changed to something else.

"Oh, and since you've got your letters from school, we'll be needing to make a trip to Diagon Alley, with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. We'll need some new robes fitted for Ron, he's grown so much. And, oh, dear, you too, Harry."

Sasuke frowned. "I'm sorry. If I understand correctly, Diagon Alley is a large, heavily populated, shopping district. Why on earth would we need to send our charges there?"

The room went quieter, and Sasuke almost thought he had said something offensive.

"Well... you know... to go shopping." Hermione's voice was almost awkward. "To get books and school uniforms and stuff. It's not really very dangerous, the Death Eaters would never attack in such a crowded place."

Sasuke looked thoughtful for a moment. "From what I've been hearing, I think it's safe to assume that by 'Death Eaters' you mean Voldemort's lackeys." He looked around, and was satisfied with several nods and a few cringes. "Now, if my experience is anything to go by, these wands of yours are versatile for different distances, although, if you cast a spell, it would eventually fizzle out if it didn't hit something first. Also, the precision and speed are such that one can easily aim even at long distances."

He pointed his fork at Hermione. "Earlier, in the kitchen, when you repaired the wall. You were perhaps two meters away, maybe three. Kakashi, if you remember, was barely a centimeter from the incision. And yet, when you cast the spell, your aim was so remarkable that, while the hole in the wall sealed, Kakashi's jacket was left torn."

"Using that ratio, unless you have some magical force-field device, any given Death Eater could take you out from a hundred meters through a moving crowd with even half of your accuracy. Which is why I feel it is imprudent for you to travel."

Sasuke finished his demonstration and set down his fork, ignoring the awkward silence that echoed throughout the room.

Finally, Hermione spoke timidly. "But they wouldn't dare to attack. They'd be caught for sure and sent to jail. The ministry has out all of their reserve forces. They would never get away."

Sasuke blinked. "I'm sorry? I don't understand. Does the other side value their soldier's lives so much? Surely the death of one or more Order members would be worth the loss of a few 'Death Eaters,' in Voldemort's perspective." There were some more cringes. "What's more, in the long view of things, it would be worth it if they did try it that way."

He picked up his fork again and prodded at his rice. "And in any case, whether they were to get caught or not, you would still be dead."

Potter seemed to be building up steam, so Sasuke waited for the inevitable outburst.

Then it came.

"Look, Sasuke, I don't know you all that well. But I think you should be able to understand. I can't just sit here my entire life, not doing anything but hiding away. I mean, don't I deserve a normal life? I mean-"

Sasuke looked up. Although he didn't know it, his sharingan was flickering disconcertingly on and off, making him look slightly demented. "Silence your ego, Potter. I wasn't talking about you."

The uproar at that statement set the whole table a-murmur. "I was actually referring to your friends, Ron-san and Hermione-san. From my research, Voldemort means to kill you himself. He would certainly choose a more opportune moment than a passing in an alley, rather than put himself at risk. Your friends, on the other hand, are much more disposable in Voldemort's eyes."

He glanced around. "I see that I have unsettled the conversation. You'll have to forgive me- I merely felt the need to insert some common sense. Sayonara, then, and good night."

He stood and walked out of the silent room.

* * *

"That- complete- ARSE!"

Kakashi laughed sheepishly. "Sorry about that, Ronald."

"It's not you who needs to be sorry," said Harry grimly. "He completely ruined the evening for everyone! What is with that guy? Does he just hate it when people are genuinely happy?"

"He- he seemed so nice, yesterday," murmured Hermione. "I can't think what could be upsetting him."

The three, plus Kakashi, were holed up in the kitchen. Kakashi, who had volunteered to help out with the dishes, was wearing a large, ruffled paisley apron, tied in a bow. He was washing the dishes, and Hermione dried them with a flick of her wand before sending them zooming to their rightful places in the cupboard.

Kakashi's face was serious, for once. "Look. I just want to say one thing. I agree- Sasuke-kun was being rude, and there was no need for him to say that. But please; don't judge him until you've walked a mile in his shoes. It isn't easy, what he does."

They were all silent for a moment, and then Hermione spoke softly. "Maybe if you could tell us what's wrong, we could understand better, Mr. Hatake- um, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi laughed. "Call me whatever you want. But- yes. You have a point."

"So?" Ron pressed.

"So you're a bunch of nosey brats. I've met too many kids like you to not recognize it." Kakashi grinned wolfishly at the trio. Only Hermione had the grace to look shamefaced.

"Okay. Look. Sasuke will murder me if I tell you too much, so keep your mouths shut about this," he paused. "Sasuke- I presume you know that he's of the Uchiha clan, right?"

Harry and Ron looked bewildered, but Hermione nodded. "The Uchiha are a wealthy and powerful clan. They lead the village's police force, and their symbol is a red-and-white fan. They are known also for their fire techniques, and the production of the village's best shinobi," she recited, clearly delighted to share her new-found knowledge.

"Yes," said Kakashi. "Anyway, for reasons I can't tell you, such a scene like you just witnessed- an entire family, happy, together, with friends and allies- would be impossible in the Uchiha clan. Family is a very sensitive subject for Sasuke. I would imagine that he was extremely jealous of you all- Ronald especially- throughout the entire meal."

Harry scowled. "Family problems are no reason to ruin everyone else's evening. My family's dead, but you don't see me throwing a fit and running out. That guy just has issues."

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah. Sasuke definitely has issues. But until he tells you why... just, don't be so hard on him, m'kay?"

Harry shrugged and Ron looked away. Hermione bit her lip.

"Mr, uh, Kakashi?"

"Yo?"

"How well do you know Sasuke?"

"Well, let's see... I've known of him since he was very young, and more so when he was about seven. But I didn't _know_ him until he was twelve, when he graduated and was assigned to my team. Why the curiosity?"

"Well, um, I was just wondering if you knew... Sasuke has these triangular knives he uses, and-"

"They're called kunai."

"Yes, the kunai. Well, his have these little swirls on them, and he said they were the symbol for the Uz- Uzumaki? clan, but he wouldn't tell me anything else..." she trailed off.

Kakashi's face was like ice, cold and hard and almost frightening.

When he spoke, his voice was a low whisper. "Listen. Hermione. Harry, Ron. I'm going to tell you this just once, so don't forget it.

"In our profession, about one fourth of potential applicants _die_ before even reaching Sasuke's level or my level. In Sasuke's level, they will force you to retire after five years. Most quit after two or three, and those that go on after that usually end up in very bad situations. Very, _very _bad situations. Usually dead. Sometimes worse.

"Sasuke is tough, and he can handle most things. But some topics-"

Ron frowned. "-I don't get it. Just because he's getting fancy with some stupid Muggle weapon..."

"Don't _ever_ mention the name Uzumaki to Sasuke, got it? Never. There are some things that Sasuke cannot talk about without having a nervous breakdown, and those kunai and the name of Uzumaki are the two most absolutely and completely off-limits. Do you understand?" His gaze was glacial and it was hard to tell what he was thinking, but his voice betrayed something along the lines of pain, and anger.

Hermione nodded mutely, and Kakashi ran a hand through his silvery hair. "If I had any sense, I'd alter your memories, but I can't seem to bring myself to do it. So keep your mouths shut about that if you value your motor functions. Now scram. I'll finish the dishes."

They scrammed.

* * *

The night air was crisp and cool. Each breath made Sasuke shiver slightly. He sat perched on the highest branch of a cherry tree out behind the Weasley house, near the barrier boundary. He picked a piece of bark off of the tree and tossed it towards the barrier. It hit with a small flash of blue light and disintegrated into ash, falling to the ground.

Hn.

"Not bad," he whispered.

"No, not at all." The voice from behind him would have made him jump if he had an ounce less control. He turned.

"Kakashi-sensei. Your watch isn't until midnight."

"It's a nice evening."

Sasuke shook his head slowly, eyes fixed on a distant star peeking out from between the upper canopy of the cherry tree's branches. "You're wrong. The sky is dark. The air is cold. The whole world is silent. It's a dead night."

"Sasuke- smile. I'm sure that he would have wanted you to be happy."

Sasuke stood, pale skin glowing in the moonlight, eyes slanting dangerously. He swung his head towards Kakashi, and pain was shining in the depths of his eyes. A tortured face. "It doesn't matter. This is the lot of the survivors, isn't it? We must be punished for the sins of others. The curse of life is to be tormented in stead of the lost ones."

"Sasuke... at least be angry, or irritated, or frustrated, or something! You aren't the only one who's lost people! At least you have Sakura. You can't take life for granted, not even your own life. Someday, she'll be gone too, and you'll realize all the people who care about you who you let die! Can't you live in the present?"

The pain lessened slightly from Sasuke's face, and, _ever _so slowly, he smiled. It wasn't a true smile- it was a tired smile. A pitying smile. "I'm sorry, sensei. That's one of the things I can't do. I've tried- God, you know I've tried. But I can't. Not until this world is different. Not until people like _him_ can live without being shunned and tormented. Not until then. Maybe never."

"You'll die if you keep this up, you idiot."

"Probably. I am a shinobi, after all." Seeing Kakashi's shocked look, he cracked the barest of grins- but at least it showed true amusement. "Relax, sensei. I'm not suicidal."

Kakashi sighed, and then laughed. "Figures. As an Uchiha, you could probably hold onto your sarcasm in the very deepest abyss of depression. The most powerful kekkei genkai."

Sasuke shot him a glare. "Shut up, sensei. We still have problems we have to deal with, you know. If I'm not mistaken, there's the issue of disguises? We'll need something, in case the enemy shinobi or even some bounty hunter decides to get in the way. That would be a pain, especially as we're both confidential material."

Kakashi's eye twitched, irritated, but he rolled his eyes and formed the Rat symbol with his hands. There was a rush of chakra and a distortion jutsu flared around his sensei. In the untrained eyes of a civilian, Kakashi would appear so nondescript that they quite literally overlooked him. Shinobi's eyes were harder to fool, however, but from Sasuke's standpoint the Copy-nin's face was stretched. It was as though he was observing his teacher through warped glass, or in fun house mirror.

From one direction, if you squinted, he was a woman with long flowing brown hair. In another, a lanky black-haired teen with bad acne. A third displayed a rather dull-looking thug with yellowed teeth and an overcoat. A myriad of identities, each piled atop one another. A middle-aged Frenchman. A plump seven-year old with dimples. An old lady. A severe-looking soldier. A teenage girl. A monkey-faced kid with the barest of peach fuzz along his jawline.

Needless to say, Sasuke found it extremely disturbing.

"A Henge would have sufficed," he said tersely, opting for himself a simple illusion. He gave himself brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and tanned skin several shades darker than his usual tone. For his eyes, he altered the impassive black irises to shine dark blue, sparkling with life and light.

Kakashi laughed at this. "So vain. Have to look pretty, no matter what, don't you, Sasuke?"

Sasuke turned away in what he hoped was a significantly snubbing gesture. "Whatever. Distortions freak me out. Too unreliable for use in important missions, and they use too much chakra for insignificant transformations."

Kakashi snickered, but formed the ram seal as well. "Sure, whatever suits you, _Captain_."

There was a sudden popping sound and a cloud of dense grey smoke. When it dissipated, a teenager with spiky black hair and a wide grin stood in front of Sasuke. His skin was relatively pale, but a pair of bright orange ski goggles were slung around his neck. He wore a thick blue-and-orange hoodie and blue jeans.

What was more, he was obviously an Uchiha.

Sasuke glared and opened his mouth, ready to make a scathing comment, but was stopped by the faintest of foot falls. The owner of those feet had to be nearby. He closed his eyes and focused, and then, without turning, flung three star shuriken from each hand towards the sound. A girlish scream and a startled yell ensued, followed shortly by some very creative swearing.

Sasuke made a mental note to tell Kakashi to apologize to Fleur and Bill for them. No doubt, had he not interrupted, they would have shared a very pleasant evening together.

* * *

Sasuke blinked.

And blinked again.

And again.

But there were no words in his vocabulary that could describe the monstrous machine sitting in front of him.

For someone used to saying nothing, this wasn't a huge problem. But he wasn't used to being caught off guard like this, and it was more than a little unnerving.

For there in front of the Weasley residence, perched promiscuously upon the muddy road, was a massive-no, gargantuan construction of glass, rubber, and metal. It was the size of a small trebuchet, and it looked eerily like a prototype of a moving fort that Konoha had discarded years ago. A metal frame, with large windows of glass, revealed an inner area, like that of a coach.

On one side of the interior, there was a leather-covered bench, facing to his left. On the other, there were two more leather-covered seats, pointing the same direction, towards a unintelligible set of buttons and controls. Along came the fourth and fifth Weasley children, carrying a very heavy looking trunk and muttering under their breaths.

They set it down, and the first of the two- Fred, perhaps?- placed a hand on the edge of the contraption. A hidden compartment sprang open, and he and the other again hoisted the trunk up and into the compartment.

Sasuke blinked. This was going to have to be investigated.

And subtle was something that only Sasuke could do.

* * *

"What monstrous demented contraption?" asked Hermione curiously.

"_That_." Sasuke stressed the word dully, gesturing to the machine.

Hermione looked momentarily confused. Then her mouth twitched slightly, and she burst into giggles.

"No- *_giggle*_ -I'm sorry, Sasuke- *_giggle* -_I'm not-_*giggle* *snort*_ -laughing at you-" She broke off into unintelligible laughter, and Sasuke made to turn away in exasperation. It was a simple question!

But as he was walking out the door, he felt a tug on his sleeve and turned. He saw Hermione, wiping tears of mirth away and struggling to keep composed. Half of him wanted to salvage his pride and walk away now, but the other half saw her trying so hard to be serious that he couldn't help but stay and hear her out.

"I really am sorry about that, Sasuke. It's just- from some things that you said to us, I assumed that you were a Muggleborn, like me. I didn't think that you were actually- you know, raised by wizards. I didn't mean to laugh." She put on such a penitent face that he was reminded abruptly of Sakura and sighed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I certainly wasn't raised by wizards. What on earth makes you think so?" He was honestly curious, but Hermione looked completely bewildered.

"You _are _a Muggleborn? Why is it that you aren't acquainted with automobiles, then? You'd have to be living in a pretty remote area not to. Where are you from?"

Sasuke's reply was emotionless. "Muggle; noun. Slang term that Wizarding folk most commonly use when speaking of non-magical people; that is to say, commoners or civilians. Can also be used as an insult. Very offensive to refer to wizardkind as Muggles, as it implies that they are supremely incompetent, or not true witches and wizards. Differs from Squib, despite the essential similarities.

"I think that, under the context you mean it, my parents were not Muggles. But they were not wizards. What does that make me?"

Hermione rubbed her head. "What do you mean, they weren't either? You have to be either or. That's the way it works."

Sasuke frowned. "My parents were not civilians, or commoners, and they didn't have magic, but they weren't nonmagical. In this situation, I will use a term from my homeland."

"Oh?" Hermione perked up. "What term is that?"

Sasuke lifted his hand up and examined the back of it. It was a seemingly innocuous gesture, but Hermione could have sworn she saw- no, it couldn't be, but it was there- a shiver of blue lightning dancing along his fingertips. She blinked again, and it was gone, but there was a chill in the air that didn't seem appropriate for August.

"We call ourselves _'Shinobi'._"

Hermione smiled benignly. "What does it translate to?"

Sasuke did not answer, but only looked out the window at the old cherry tree. There were no flowers, but he could just imagine the sakura blossoms in springtime, filling the air with fragrance, the gnarled boughs laden with rosy and white petals, falling on the grass like new snow. Back in Konoha, the trees were everywhere, and the city was surrounded by the sweet scent.

Little children made garlands out of the flowers, and gave them to one another in declarations of friendship. Petals paved the streets, and for some weeks, the village was clothed in soft white and pink. Nothing disturbed them, and even when they were trampled by little feet, more fell. The blossoms were more treasured than the fruit, a symbol of peace and prosperity, if only for a while.

_If the British took less for granted, they would plant more sakura trees._

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke turned slowly back. "Here's another word from my homeland- sakura. Think about it."

He turned for one last look out the window, closed his eyes, and formed a seal. There was a puff of smoke, and he was gone, with just a few rosy-white petals floating down to rest on the floor where he had stood.

* * *

Hinata pressed herself, despite her exhaustion. She was late, she knew, very late. It was only her fault that the mission had taken so long. She had failed them all, failed her team, failed her father, failed Neji-nii-san and failed... failed Naruto-kun, too. She felt hot tears burn and then grow cold on her face, but she gritted her teeth and wiped her arm across her cheeks.

She would not cry.

Neji-nii-san had come up behind her. It was lucky that she had been assigned with her cousin, instead of some chuunin that she didn't know. He would not tell, and this disgrace would stay between them two. Thank goodness.

"Hinata-sama, you need not cry."

It was a quiet rebuff, but it stung all the same.

She composed herself silently, and when she spoke, her voice was blessedly clear- free of stuttering and choked sobs. She had improved a little, at least, in that regard, but she was still so weak... "Forgive me, Neji-nii. I am not crying."

Neji smiled a small smile. If the other members of their team were still there, he certainly would not have done so, but they were far ahead, waiting desperately for their backup. "The Byakugan sees all, Hinata-sama. I am a master of reading body language."

Hinata didn't answer.

"You were thinking that you were weak, were you not?"

A small flinch gave him the answer to that question, but seeing Hinata like this, at her most vulnerable, just gave him a pulse of guilt. He hadn't meant to make her feel bad, but old habits returned like flies, always when you least wanted them. He tried to make his voice more compassionate, or at least a little more cordial. Tenten sometimes said that talking to him was like talking to a wall of ice. He had closed off even more since Naruto's disastrous mission, becoming all but a hermit, and shoving away contact.

But that was in the past. He had been slowly regaining a sense of humanity, for the past couple of years. Relapses happened, but that was no reason to treat Hinata-sama like that. She, of all people, had been the most patient with him, and he could not strike her when she was feeling upset simply because he was worried about Lee and Tenten. Hinata-sama was always kind to him, and he had to protect her from everyone and anything that would make her feel hurt.

Even if that was him.

Especially if that was him.

He sighed, and caught up with the clan heiress in a few quick leaps, dodging leaves and branches. "You are not weak, Hinata-sama. Being kind is not the same as being weak."

His cousin was silent for a moment, but very tense. Finally, she burst out, her stutter getting worse and worse as she got more and more agitated at herself. "B-But, Neji-nii-san, I failed the mission! I-I failed the team. It's a-all m-m-my fault that T-Tenten-san a-and Lee-san are injured!"

Neji remained calm, but silently he was cursing himself for giving her a hard time about that earlier. Most shinobi would have taken it in stride as a lecture from their team captain. They would have listened and learned from it and gotten over it. But Hinata-sama was so softhearted that she must have thought that he was really angry with her, instead of just stressed and worried about his teammates.

Had she been dwelling on it all morning? No wonder she was practically having a nervous breakdown.

"Hinata-sama, you are not weak. A poor judge of character, perhaps." Neji had to admit that was probable. Why else would she hang around him for so long? "Easily deceived, certainly. And innocent to a fault. But you are certainly not weak. You were never weak."

"If I had j-just known that he w-was an Iwa-nin- but I couldn't- I-I didn't..."

"Uzumaki-kun knew that you were not weak. Do you disagree with the faith he placed in you, Hinata-sama?"

Hinata inhaled sharply. With visible effort, she composed her face and wiped away the tears that were starting to form at the corners of her eyes. She shook her head resolutely, and increased her pace as the two leaped through the trees.

"Let go get Lee-san and Tenten-san!" she whispered, her face determined.

_Naruto-kun...!_

* * *

**You know, this story is more of a general idea than a set plotline. Review with ideas, and I'll see what I can do to accommodate you. I can't read minds, so if you don't ask, it probably won't happen. Ask! The worst I can do is say no, right? And if I do, I'll probably feel bad about it, so I'll try not to.  
**

**~Crys**


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